CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Church of England: Land

Nick Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if the Commissioners will make it their policy to increase the amount of agricultural and horticultural produce grown on land owned by the Church Commissioners.

Stuart Bell: All the Church Commissioners' agricultural land is let and their tenants have freedom of cropping.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

1 Carlton Gardens

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when 1 Carlton Gardens ceased to be used as a ministerial residence.

Gillian Merron: 1 Carlton Gardens ceased being a ministerial residence on 16 October 2007.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visits to the outer Chagos Islands by members of the Chagossian community sponsored by his Department are planned in the next 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the cost per person to the public purse of each trip.

Gillian Merron: The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration (BIOTA) hopes to arrange two visits by Chagossians to the territory in the next 12 months. It is hoped that one of these visits will be to repair Chagossian graves in BIOT. Funding has not yet been secured but based on the cost of two similar visits in 2008, which together included 14 people, BIOTA estimate that this will amount to around £60,000.

British Overseas Territories: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of white collar crime have been recorded on  (a) Anguilla,  (b) Bermuda and  (c) the Cayman Islands in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The information requested by the hon. Member is not held by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but by the authorities in each overseas territory.

British Overseas Territories: Crime Prevention

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money the Overseas Territories Regional Crime Intelligence System has cost in each year since its establishment.

Gillian Merron: Since its establishment in 1996, the total costs of the Overseas Territories Regional Crime Intelligence System were:
	
		
			   Total costs (£) 
			 1996 197,517 
			 1997 12,662 
			 1998 12,662 
			 1999 37,162 
			 2000 70,687 
			 2001 157,811 
			 2002 28,755 
			 2003 28,755 
			 2004 28,755 
			 2005 28,755 
			 2006 28,755 
			 2007 28,755 
			 2008 236,273 
		
	
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid for initial set-up costs in 1996 and for maintenance and support costs until 2003. The FCO also paid for licence upgrades and new servers in 2001 and 2008. From 2004 to 2007, the overseas territories paid for maintenance and support costs of £28,755 per annum. In 2008, they contributed £33,492. The total costs in 2008 paid for the system to be upgraded and maintained.

British Overseas Territories: Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by his Department to ensure acceptable standards of maritime and aviation security in the UK Overseas Territories.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Transport is responsible for aviation security in the UK and has a Regional Aviation and Maritime Security Adviser (RAMSA) to provide a dedicated guidance and support service to Governors, Directors of Civil Aviation (DCAs) and Port Facility Security Officers on aviation and maritime security issues in the Caribbean Overseas Territories (OTs) and Bermuda. This is supported by compliance inspection undertaken by teams drawn from the OTs with oversight maintained by TRANSEC, the Department's Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate. TRANSEC's London-based staff fulfil the same role directly in the other OTs.

British Overseas Territories: Tax Havens

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the progress of UK Overseas Territories towards the signing of the tax-sharing agreements discussed at the G20 summit.

Gillian Merron: We welcome the progress made by Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar in signing or agreeing to sign in the near future Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) that count towards meeting the international standard.
	Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands should reach the internationally agreed standard by the end of May 2009. The Cayman Islands have introduced domestic legislation to allow tax information to be shared with other jurisdictions and currently have 12 jurisdictions, in addition to eight bilateral agreements, included in this approach. An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development meeting in May will determine whether unilaterally listing countries with whom they are prepared to exchange tax agreements, in conjunction with appropriate information gathering powers, can count towards their TIEA number.
	Gibraltar has invited a number of states to sign TIEAs and negotiations are progressing well.
	We are in discussion with the smaller jurisdictions (Anguilla, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands) to find the best approach to allow them to meet the agreed standard as quickly as possible.

British Overseas Territories: Tourism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of  (a) St. Helena's and  (b) Bermuda's gross domestic product was generated by the tourism sector in each year since 2005.

Gillian Merron: Percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) generated from Tourism in St. Helena:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2004-05 3 
			 2005-06 3 
			 2006-07 4 
			 2007-08 2 
		
	
	Percentage of GDP generated by tourism (hotels and restaurants) in Bermuda:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2005 5.5 
			 2006 5.8 
			 2007 5.5

Central Africa: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the proposed United Nations mission in the Central African Republic and Chad peace conference on Eastern Chad; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: We are not aware of any current plans for the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic and Chad to hold a peace conference on Eastern Chad.

Colombia

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department met representatives of the Colombian Government during 2008.

Gillian Merron: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers had meetings or discussions with representatives of the Colombian Government, including President Uribe, Vice President Santos, Foreign Minister Bermudez and Defence Minister Santos on the following dates in 2008:
	20 February
	6 March
	11 March
	16 May
	21 May
	9 October
	16 October
	5 November
	19 November
	In addition, FCO ministers are in regular contact with the Colombian ambassador to the UK.
	Sir Peter Ricketts, Permanent Under Secretary of State for the FCO, visited Colombia 17-18 December 2008, during which he met several representatives of the Colombian Government including Foreign Minister Bermudez and Defence Minister Santos.
	Other FCO officials, including in Bogota, London and in multilateral Posts, hold regular meetings with Colombian Government officials as part of their regular official duties. As this information is not held centrally, it would not be possible to provide a comprehensive list of such meetings without incurring disproportionate cost.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Stroud of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1235W, on the Democratic Republic of Congo: peacekeeping operations, what the proposed UK support to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) will consist of; and what progress has been made on the secondment of the small number of appropriately skilled individuals from the UK to fill vacant posts on the MONUC staff.

Gillian Merron: In addition to the five British personnel currently seconded to UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (MONUC), the UN Secretariat announced on 9 April 2009 that our candidate for the position of Deputy Force Commander slot had been accepted. He is scheduled to take up his post in May 2009, by which time the total number of UK personnel in the mission will be seven. The UK pays 7.8 per cent. of the total cost of MONUC. In addition, the UK, through the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool, has allocated £2.5 million for conflict prevention work in DRC this financial year.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1999W, on the Democratic Republic of Congo: peacekeeping operations; what progress has been made on securing  (a) the second authorised infantry battalion,  (b) two special forces companies and  (c) a second formed police unit for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and what discussions he has had with potential contributors.

Gillian Merron: The UN Secretariat has secured the additional infantry and special forces capabilities from Bangladesh, Jordan and Egypt and is in discussions with potential contributors to provide the second formed police unit. These additional personnel are scheduled for deployment in July. The UK has led calls for the reinforcement of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and lobbied troop contributing countries.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department are suspended; how many are suspended on full pay; for how long each has been suspended; and what the reasons are for each such suspension.

Gillian Merron: There are members of staff currently suspended. We are unable to provide any details in order to protect their identities and on grounds of confidentiality.

Departmental Finance

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to page 131 of the 2009 Budget Red Book, what his Department's definition is of back office activity; and what the cost to his Department of such activity was in 2008-09.

David Miliband: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works to the set of departmental strategic objectives (DSOs) and management and support activities. Work on DSOs one to eight is known as "front-line" activity. Management and support work is known as "back office" activity.
	FCO resource accounts for the financial year 2008-09 are currently in preparation and costs are not yet available. The latest full year for which costs are available is 2007-08. At that time, the DSOs were known as strategic priorities (SPs).
	Expenditure on management and support (including spend on information technology, procurement and maintenance among other items, but excluding programme spend) for 2007-08 was £360 million.
	Some of that management and support activity was carried out for other Government Department staff, their share of which was recovered by the FCO.

Departmental Finance

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to page 131 of the 2009 Budget Red Book, what the  (a) UK mission,  (b) current grade and  (c) planned grade is of each post which will be downgraded as part of achieving the £6.6 million of savings; in which year each downgrading will take place; and what the reasons are for each downgrading.

David Miliband: The following downgrades of positions, completed or planned, will contribute to the £6.6 million of savings forecast by the Europe Zero Based Review (ZBR) efficiency programme:
	
		
			  Year of downgrade  Post  Current grade  Proposed grade 
			 2009-10 Berne C5 C4 
			 2010-11 Brussels SMS1 D7 
			 2008-09 Gibraltar C4 B3 
			 2008-09 Istanbul D6 C4 
			 2008-09 Kyiv SMS1 D7 
			 2007-08 Lisbon SMS2 SMS1 
			 2008-09 Nicosia SMS1 D7 
			 2007-08 Rome LEII LEIII 
			 2009-10 Rome LEII LEIII 
			 2009-10 Vienna SMS1 D7 
			 2009-10 Warsaw LEII LEIII 
		
	
	All these downgrades were undertaken to ensure that missions in the Europe Network were appropriately staffed to meet changing priorities and more efficient ways of working driven by the Europe Zero Based Review efficiency programme.

Departmental Recruitment

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the European Fast Stream is not available as a Graduate Fast Stream option.

Tom Watson: I have been asked to reply.
	The European Fast Stream (EFS) has been suspended since 2007. This is because for several years there were no major concours being run by the EU institutions which were open to UK candidates. There was therefore no demand from Government Departments for Cabinet Office to supply them with European Fast Streamers through the Graduate Fast Stream (GFS) scheme. Cabinet Office, in conjunction with other interested Government Departments, is currently considering whether a revised version of the EFS should be reintroduced for 2010.

Ethiopia: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the government of Ethiopia on the  (a) welfare of the leader of the Union for Democracy and Justice and  (b) the conduct of elections in 2010 in Ethiopia; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, raised both issues with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in February 2009 pointing out the potential damage to Ethiopia's international image that both issues could cause. Our ambassador to Ethiopia also raises these issues with both the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin on a regular basis.
	Officials from our embassy in Addis Ababa attended the trial of Birtukan Midekssa, leader of the Union for Democracy and Justice political party, in April 2009. We will continue to urge the Ethiopian Government to resolve this issue quickly.
	We regularly raise our concerns about the perceived closing of political space in Ethiopia and the potential impact this might have on the 2010 elections. In support of efforts to promote democracy, the UK and other donors are helping to build the capacity of the National Election Board of Ethiopia. We are also committed to continue to work with the Ethiopian Government, opposition and civil society to promote free and fair elections.

Iran: Sanctions

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since 27 December 2006 the UN Sanctions Committee established pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1737 has recommended ways to strengthen the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on Iran by the resolution; and what the outcome was of the recommendation in each instance.

David Miliband: The UN Sanctions Committee for UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1737 (2006) has reported to the UN Security Council at least every 90 days on its work, as required by UNSCR 1737. The reports comment on the implementation of the Resolution and recommend ways to strengthen the effectiveness of the sanctions measures. The Committee has submitted nine reports since 27 December 2006. Full details of the UN Sanctions Committee reports are publicly available at:
	http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1737/selecdocs.shtml
	The UN Security Council considers all recommendations made by the Committee. Recommendations that have been implemented include the creation of a model text to assist member states in drafting their reports to the Committee, and making the consolidated lists of individuals and entities subjects to assets freezes and travel bans more user-friendly.

Iran: Sanctions

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on a UN prohibition on the export of arms and related material to Iran; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Government fully support UN Security Council Resolution 1747, paragraph six of which calls upon all states to exercise vigilance and restraint in the supply, sale or transfer of a variety of arms and related material to Iran. We urge all states to comply with the resolution.
	A UN prohibition on the export of arms and related materiel to Iran may be required in due course, however, as I said in the House on 31 March 2009,  Official Report, column 769, now is not the time to rush for more UN sanctions. Instead, now is the time to back American outreach, which is a once-in-a-generation opportunity both for us and for the Iranians. If the Iranians do not respond in a positive way, we can then
	ensure that further steps are taken.

Israel: Arms Trade

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer by Lord Davies of Oldham of 13 March 2009,  Official Report, House of Lords, WA288, on Israel, what the remit of his Department's assessment of arms exports is; and when he expects the assessment to be complete.

David Miliband: I refer the right hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 21 April 2009,  Official Report, column 8WS.

Somalia: Piracy

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Daventry of 18 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1187W, on piracy, what the outcome was of the 5 March 2009 meeting of experts from the International Contact Group on Somalia; and whether the International Contact Group has issued guidance on the arrest and transfer of persons suspected of committing acts of piracy.

David Miliband: The chairman's summary of Contact Group Working Group 2 can be found online at
	http://www.africa-union.org/root/ua/Conferences/2009/mars/PSC/16MARSBIS/CGPCS_WG%202.pdf
	The role of the Working Group is to provide advice to the governments of member states, the Contact Group countries and to the participating organisations, not itself to issue guidance. The Working Group discussed national legislation, the exercise of jurisdiction, arrangements between states, capacity building and potential future work areas for the Group. The Contact Group meeting in Cairo on 17 March 2009 recognised the need for the Working Group to continue its work. The Contact Group also agreed to task the Working Group to set the legal framework for a possible International Trust Fund to help defray the expenses associated with prosecution of suspected pirates as well as to support the costs of other activities related to implementing contact group objectives regarding combating piracy in all its aspects.

Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on the political situation in Darfur of restrictions on movement of the joint UN-AU force for Darfur imposed by the government of Sudan since the beginning of 2009; and what discussions he has had with the government of Sudan on those restrictions.

Gillian Merron: Intermittent restrictions on UN-African Union hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID)'s movement continue to be imposed by the Government of Sudan. This has a negative impact on the ability of the UN-African Union force to provide protection for civilians and monitor the humanitarian and security situation. However, despite the challenges, UNAMID continues to expand its operations. During the upsurge in conflict around Muhajeriya in January and February 2009, UNAMID successfully resisted requests from the Government of Sudan that they should withdraw.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary called on the Sudanese Government to facilitate UNAMID deployment in his statement of 4 March 2009. The statement may be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website:
	www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom
	We have also raised our concerns in other appropriate forums. The Foreign Secretary has not, however, discussed this issue directly with the Sudanese Government since the beginning of the year.

Uganda: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the treason (a) charge and  (b) trial of Dr. Kizza Besigye in Uganda; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Dr. Kizza Besigye remains on bail and his trial on hold pending the outcome of a petition to the Constitutional Court, for which a date has not been set. We continue to be in close contact with Dr. Besigye's lawyer and carefully follow developments in the case.
	In the course of our regular dialogue with the Government of Uganda, we continue to press them on all aspects of good governance and the rule of law.

Uganda: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the February 2009 Annual Conference of the Forum for Democratic Change in Uganda; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) held its second national delegates conference in February 2009, during which its members elected key party officials. This included the re-election of Dr. Kizza Besigye as FDC President. I welcome the Conference and the transparent contest for the FDC presidency and other party offices as a positive contribution to the strengthening of multiparty democracy in Uganda.

Uganda: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 99W, on Uganda: politics and government, what reports he has received on the trial of Lieutenant Ramathan Magara of the Uganda Army following the shooting of three people at Dr. Kizza Besigye's election rally in February 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: We have received no further reporting on the trial of Lieutenant Ramathan Magara of the Ugandan Army since October 2008, but understand his case is still pending.
	The responsibility for investigating incidents such as this lies with the local authorities. However, we continue to regularly raise with the Ugandan Government the importance of good governance, the rule of law, engaging with the opposition and building towards the next elections in 2011.

UN World Conference against Racism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support removal of a reference to foreign occupation in the draft text of the UN Durban 2 anti-racism conference; what recent discussions he has had with the government of Israel on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The UK supported the removal of the reference to foreign occupation in the outcome document of the Durban review conference. This did not, however, achieve consensus, as the reference was generic and did not apply to any specific state or region.
	The Government did not discuss this issue with the Government of Israel.
	A written ministerial statement on the Durban review conference was laid before the House on 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 41WS.

TREASURY

Child Benefit

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount and proportion of child benefit paid to families earning more than  (a) £100,000 and  (b) £150,000 per annum in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Family Resources survey produces unreliable estimates for households with high incomes. An accurate estimate could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 16 March 2009 concerning a constituent reference PO3/09295/2009.

Stephen Timms: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

Mark Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean of 13 March and 26 March 2009 on Equitable Life, reference LT2480.

Ian Pearson: A reply should be provided shortly. I apologise for the delay.

Public Expenditure: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the 2009 Budget on learners resident in Coventry.

Yvette Cooper: The Government announced a number of measures in the Budget to increase the opportunities for learners, and ensure the country has the skills for the future.
	Budget 2009 announced that the September Guarantee of a place in education and training to every 16 and 17 year-old who wants one will be met in full. There will be additional investment of £251 million in 2009-10 and £404 million in 2010-11. This will cover an extra 54,500 student places in the next academic year.
	Financial allocations will shortly be made to all schools and colleges—including those in Coventry—through the Learning and Skills Council.
	And to support the long-term unemployed, Budget 2009 also guaranteed that every young person between 18 and 24 who has been claiming JSA for 12 months will be offered a job, work placement, or work-related skills training for at least six months. In total Budget 2009 allocated over £260 million to support additional training places, training allowances, and recruitment subsidies, to support young people to learn skills or gain experience in sectors where there will be strong future demand.
	In addition to the £260 million, Budget 2009 also announced extra funding for Care First to offer 50,000 traineeships for young people in the care sector. Social care providers will receive a subsidy for offering sustained employment and training to young people who have been out of work for 12 months. This will give them the skills and experience they need for a career in this growing sector.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was  (a) spent from the public purse and  (b) raised for the Exchequer from Northern Ireland in the latest year for which information is available.

Yvette Cooper: Public expenditure in Northern Ireland was £17.2 billion in 2007-08 as set out in table 9.1 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2008 (HC489). However, we do not hold regional and country breakdowns for the aggregate amount of taxation raised for the Exchequer. The latest figures on tax raised in the UK as a whole can be found in the 2009 Budget Report (HC 407).

Public Works Loan Board

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much each local authority borrowed from the Public Works Loan Board at  (a) fixed and  (b) variable rates in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: I have deposited a table showing this information in the House of Commons Library.

Small Businesses

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made in each month since June 2008 of the likely effects on small businesses as a result of the downturn in the economy; what assistance he plans to give during the next 12 months to small businesses; what representations he has received on this issue; from whom; what response he gave; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: BERR makes use of official statistics produced by ONS on a range of economic indicators, and findings from a large number of regular surveys of business confidence and trading conditions conducted by business representative bodies (for example, the quarterly CBI Industrial Trends Survey). In addition, figures published by the British Banking Association enable trends in net lending to small businesses to be monitored each month. In addition, the Department receives lending data on a monthly basis. BERR also periodically conducts surveys of business which examine a wide range of issues of concern to business. These are published on the BERR website at
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/publications/reports/index.html.
	On 12 January the Secretary of State for Business and Enterprise announced a package of measures to address the cash flow, credit and capital needs of businesses. This is an important element of wider Real Help for Business that provides targeted Government support to businesses. Further specific support was announced on 27 January aimed at freeing up lending of more than £2 billion for the automotive industry. Information about these measures is available through Business Link at
	www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp
	BERR is engaging with SME business representative bodies and UK banks about the issues affecting business during current economic difficulties, specifically through regular meetings of Small Business and Small Business Finance Forum.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much stamp duty was paid on average by purchasers of  (a) a Right to Buy purchase council house,  (b) a Right to Acquire purchase,  (c) a Social HomeBuy purchase of the full equity and  (d) a First Time Buyer Initiative purchase in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: Information on the average amount of stamp duty land tax paid by purchases under these schemes is not available.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of first-time homebuyers who paid stamp duty land tax in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: The information is not available.

Tax Yields

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much taxation was raised in  (a) England,  (b) Scotland,  (c) Wales and  (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: The latest estimates of current receipts for the UK are published in table C6 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report (HC 407). We do not hold information on the aggregate amount of taxation raised in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Taxation

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds on the top rates of  (a) income tax and  (b) social taxes in OECD economies.

Angela Eagle: The main source of information for international comparisons of income tax and social security contributions in OECD economies are publications produced annually by the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) of the OECD in particular the 'OECD Tax Database' and the 'OECD Taxing Wages'.
	The OECD Tax Database is available on the OECD website at:
	http://www.oecd.org/ctp/taxdatabase
	The OECD Taxing Wages publication is available at:
	http://www.oecd.org/ctp/taxingwages

Taxation: Construction

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the average time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to  (a) register small and medium-sized enterprises in the construction industry and  (b) issue a unique taxpayer reference number.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs currently register the vast majority of Construction Industry scheme applications for individuals within six to seven working days. The unique taxpayer reference number is then dispatched to individuals via an automated process within the next seven working days.

Trade Unions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Castle Point of 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 129W, on trade unions, what office facilities are provided for the exclusive use of each of the recognised trade union in  (a) his Department,  (b) the Crown Estate,  (c) HM Revenue and Customs and  (d) the Valuation Office Agency; and what the notional monetary value of such provision is.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			  Department HM Treasury  Facilities 
			 HM Treasury Office provided exclusively for the use of recognised trade union staff 
			 HMRC No central record of exclusive office use held 
			 VOA No exclusive use of office facilities provided 
		
	
	No information is available on notional annual value.
	The Crown Estate is not an Agency of the Treasury.

Valuation Office: Conferences

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1629W, on the Valuation Office: overseas visits, if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts presented by the representative of the Valuation Office Agency at the Australian Valuer General, Registrar General and Surveyor General's Conference in Adelaide.

Stephen Timms: A copy of the presentation, made by a representative of the Valuation Office Agency, is available to view online at the Government of Australia Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure website at
	http://lac2008.landservices.sa.gov.au/Industry_Day/2Presentations.asp#tretton

Valuation Office: Conferences

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1629W, on the Valuation Office: overseas visits, if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts presented by the representative of the Valuation Office Agency at the Mass Appraisal Valuation Symposium in Toronto.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 12 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1261W.

Valuation Office: Conferences

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts on  (a) practical problems in the valuation of non-residential properties and  (b) steps for a successful revaluation presented by the representative of the Valuation Office Agency at the International Property Tax Institute in Pretoria in March 2009.

Stephen Timms: A copy of the presentation will be placed in the Library.

Valuation Office: Conferences

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1629W, on the Valuation Office: overseas visits, what seminars officials of the Valuation Office Agency attended during the visit to the Gartner's Symposium/IT(xpo) in Cannes.

Angela Eagle: One person visited Cannes to attend the Gartner's Symposium/IT (xpo). Attendance at Symposiums and conferences provides benefit to both the Agency and the individual, particularly in terms of keeping them abreast of developments and innovation in IT.
	The seminars attended were:
	Jump Start 2009; Mobilising People Process and Technology
	Perfecting the three pillars of Vendor Management: Contract, Relationship and Performance
	Delivering Difference: The 2009 CIO Agenda
	The 2008 Gartner Scenario: The current State and Future Direction of the IT industry
	Bring Facebook, Wikipedia and Del.icio.us In House: Why Consumer Social Software is better than what you are paying for
	Making the transformation to a Next-Generation Data Centre
	Governing and Managing Application Organisations
	The future of Infrastructure and Operations
	Mastermind Interview: Ian Livingstone, CEO, BT
	The end of the line for IT Organisations/Type Z IT and what it could mean for you
	The Future of Government is no Government
	Autonomy: Solution Provider Session
	Designing the IT Organisation for Maximum Effectiveness
	Mastermind Interview: Contradictions and Balance: Business is IT and IT is Business
	The Futuristic CIO
	What does IT Asset Management mean to your business?
	Best practice in applying Lean in IT

Valuation Office: Conferences

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts presented by the representative of the Valuation Office Agency at the European Valuation Standards 2009 conference held in Warsaw on 1 April 2009.

Stephen Timms: A copy of the presentation and handouts will be placed in the Library.

PRIME MINISTER

10 Downing Street: Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether 10 Downing Street is equipped with an air conditioning system with an output greater than 250kW; and whether the air conditioning system in 10 Downing Street has been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007;
	(2)  how much has been spent on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within 10 Downing Street in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Kevin Brennan) on 30 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1462W.

10 Downing Street: Official Hospitality

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions political events have been hosted at 10 Downing Street in each year since 1997; which organisation hosted each such event; and how much each such organisation was charged for each such event.

Gordon Brown: As was the practice under previous Administrations and in accordance with the ministerial code, I have hosted a number of political events at Downing street. The costs for these events are met by the Labour party. Information on official and charity receptions held at 10 Downing street is published by means of an annual list as soon as it is ready at the end of the financial year.

Cricket

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister if he will hold a reception at 10 Downing Street to celebrate the victory of the England women's cricket team in the women's cricket World Cup tournament in Australia.

Gordon Brown: Yes. My Office has contacted the England and Wales Cricket Board to arrange an appropriate date.

Damian McBride

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister to whom Damian McBride reported in the post he occupied before his recent resignation; what performance reporting procedures applied to him; what his job description was; what  (a) pay band and  (b) pay range he was in; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the  (a) job title,  (b) main responsibilities and  (c) annual salary of Damian McBride was at the time of his resignation;
	(2)  whether the post formerly occupied by Damian McBride was advertised externally prior to Mr. McBride's appointment to it;
	(3)  whether there are plans to make an appointment to fill the post left vacant by the resignation of Damian McBride.

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister on what date Damian McBride was appointed as a special adviser; what criteria were used in the selection procedures to fill the post; what reasons Mr. McBride provided for his resignation; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each pay band. Updated information will be published in the usual way.

Damian McBride

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister when he was first informed of the activities of Damian McBride that led to his departure from his office; whether he requested Mr. McBride's resignation; whether Mr. McBride will be subject to disciplinary proceedings; whether Mr. McBride will receive financial compensation; what discussions he has had with  (a) the Cabinet Secretary,  (b) Cabinet colleagues and  (c) others about the departure of Mr. McBride; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the press briefing given my spokesman on 14 April. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website at:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19008

Damian McBride

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of each letter he wrote to hon. Members about the activities of Damian McBride; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: The letters referred to were sent on a private and personal basis to the individuals concerned.

Damian McBride

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many emails to  (a) governmental and  (b) non-governmental recipients were sent by Damian McBride from his Government email account between 1 September 2008 and 11 April 2009.

Gordon Brown: Civil servants, including special advisers are required to abide by their respective codes of conduct and guidance on the use of official resources.

Departmental Email

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will install Pretty Good Privacy encryption software and an associated email address to enable members of the public to correspond with Downing Street securely;
	(2)  for what reason the redesigned Downing Street website does not have a functioning contact email address or contact form;
	(3)  for how long the email Number 10 facility on the Downing Street website has been unavailable.

Gordon Brown: Enhancements have been made to the No. 10 email facility and an updated version is now available. The systems comply with the Government security requirements.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister what overseas visits were undertaken in an official capacity by special advisers in his Office in each year since June 2007; what the cost of those visits was; how many official engagements and meetings were undertaken on each visit; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House. Information on the number of officials accompanying Ministers on overseas visits is included in the list. Information for the financial year 2008-09 will be published in the usual manner.
	More detailed information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the ministerial code and the civil service management code.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister what training was provided to special advisers in 10 Downing Street in each year since 2007; how much was spent on such training for each special adviser in each such year; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: Special advisers receive training as appropriate to enable them to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish the register of interests of departmental special advisers.

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister whether Damian McBride declared any payments received by him from sources other than the public purse during his tenure of office in 10 Downing Street.

Gordon Brown: The rules for civil servants, including special advisers, on the handling of interests are set out in the Civil Service Management Code. Individual disclosures are personal between the employer and employee and not normally made public.

Departmental Public Appointments

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Prime Minister what his role is in the appointment of  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers to posts based in 10 Downing Street; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: The appointment of civil servants and special advisers, including those in my Office, are made in accordance with the conditions set out in the Ministerial Code.

Derek Draper

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister whether Mr. Derek Draper has a security pass to No. 10 Downing Street.

Gordon Brown: No.

Iraq: Iran

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to discuss the matter of the protected persons status of persons in Ashraf City, Iraq under the Geneva Conventions with the Prime Minister of Iraq during his visit to London on 30 April 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I discussed a wide range of issues with Prime Minister Maliki. I refer my hon. Friend to the press conference I held with Prime Minister Maliki on 30 April 2009; a transcript of which is available on the No. 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19193.

Israel: Anniversaries

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister to what events held in  (a) the UK and  (b) Israel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv he has been invited; what such invitations he has (i) accepted and (ii) declined; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I have not received any such invitations. But the British ambassador to Israel, based in Tel Aviv, has accepted invitations to commemorate the 100th anniversary and will represent the British Government.

Members: Allowances

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he made of the merits to accepting the offers of meetings to discuss reform of hon. Members' allowances made by  (a) the right hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam and  (b) the right hon. Member for Witney before announcing his proposals on the matter on 21 April.

Gordon Brown: I have met the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) and the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) to discuss these issues.

Pakistan: Nuclear Weapons

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether Pakistan's nuclear weapons were discussed during his visit to Pakistan on 27 April 2009.

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister whether he made representations to President Zardari on the re-assertion of central government control in Swat during his recent meeting with him.

Gordon Brown: I discussed a wide range of issues on my recent visit to Pakistan. I refer the hon. Member and my hon. Friend to the press conference I held with Prime Minister Gilani on 27 April 2009; a transcript of which is available on the No. 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19148.
	I also refer the hon. Member and my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House on 29 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 869-73.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Conferences

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which  (a) Ministers and  (b) others attended the local media summit on 28 April 2009.

Andy Burnham: The local media summit on 28 April 2009 was attended by myself and my noble Friend Lord Carter of Barnes.
	The event was attended by representatives from a wide range of stakeholder groups, including the National Union of Journalists, the Society of editors, the Newspaper Society, Ofcom, the Press Association, as well as other Members of Parliament and key stakeholders from national and local television and radio.

Conferences: Official Hospitality

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent  (a) in total and  (b) on (i) venue hire, (ii) food and drink and (iii) travel costs in respect of its local media summit on 28 April 2009.

Andy Burnham: My Department spent nothing on venue hire, food and drink, or travel costs for the local media summit of 28 April.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agency spent on official hospitality in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: All expenditure on hospitality is made in accordance with published departmental guidance, based on principles set out in Managing Public Money.
	The information requested by the hon. Member is not readily available from the Department's accounting system. To provide the information would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Pay

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the hourly rates of pay of all non-permanent members of staff working in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies were in each of the last 12 months; and how many staff received each rate.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Empty Property: Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department's liability for unoccupied property rates was in 2008-09.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department had one unoccupied property, Oceanic house, during 2008-09. Oceanic house is a listed building and is exempt from business rates whilst it is unoccupied.

Gambling: Antigua

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many visits the Gambling Commission has made to Antigua in relation to the addition of that country to the White List of countries permitted to advertise online gambling services in the UK.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Gambling Commission have advised that there have been no official visits to Antigua in relation to its addition to the White List.

Licensed Premises: EC Action

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the likely effects on the sale of alcohol of the implementation of European Commission proposals on the introduction of online facilities for applications for the types of licence provided for by the Licensing Act 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The EU services directive requires member states to allow applications for permission to provide services to be made electronically and to a 'point of single contact'. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is responsible for transposing its requirements into UK law. My Department is working with BERR to ensure that application processes under the Licensing Act 2003 (LA2003) in respect of services are modified in an appropriate and efficient manner. The requirements of the services directive complement our own plans to make it easier for applicants to apply for licences and permission under LA2003 electronically. The necessary protections currently in place under LA2003, including consultation with responsible authorities, will remain, and we will consult upon proposed modifications before implementation.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his most recent estimate is of the amount of money his Department expects to pay in unoccupied property rates in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department does not expect to pay any unoccupied property rates in  (a) 2009-10 or  (b) 2010-11.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Food

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment of  (a) the popularity with personnel,  (b) the value for money in comparison with the daily mess rate and  (c) alternative options for implementation of the Pay as you Dine pilot projects carried out at RAF Henlow, Leuchars and Holton prior to (i) any extension of the contract at these stations and (ii) any further extension of the concept to other bases; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Pay As You Dine (PAYD) trials were established at RAF Henlow, RAF Leuchars and RAF Halton in 2002, 2004 and 2005, respectively. The performance of these trials has been reviewed continually since they commenced and from early 2008 focus groups and consumer surveys have been carried out to assess performance in meeting the aspirations of consumers and their perception of value for money. On the whole personnel accepted that there would be winners and losers, but that PAYD would be a fairer system, allowing choice on how they spend their money. This information is being used to inform the dialogue process currently ongoing with industry to identify a PAYD model that meets the RAF requirements and is viable to industry.
	The MOD considered alternative options for PAYD both prior to implementing the trials and since. In all cases it was decided that the external contractor option best met the RAF requirements. This is still the expectation.
	RAF trials are continuing and a RAF specific solution is being developed in consultation with industry, with a final proposal expected by mid 2010 at the latest. It is then planned that a revised PAYD model, informed by the results of the trials, will be taken forward with industry and the agreed solution will be introduced as far as possible to existing PAYD units and rolled out across the other RAF sites.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the regulations came into force.

Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Pay

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each financial year since 2005-06; and what the maximum bonus was in each such financial year.

Bob Ainsworth: The total monetary value of bonuses or performance awards paid to members of the Senior Civil Service (SCS), to Fixed Term Appointees and to 60,000 civil servants below the level of the SCS covered by the MOD main pay deal, excluding Trading Funds, and the maximum bonus in each financial year since 2005-06 is provided in the following tables.
	
		
			  Bonuses paid to senior civil servants 
			  Financial year  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Performance year 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 
			 Value of bonuses paid (£) 1,500,000 1,325,700 1,178,500 918,000 
			 Maximum bonus (£) (1)17,000 17,600 16,000 12,500 
			 (1) A higher bonus of £22,500 was available but not awarded. 
		
	
	
		
			  Bonuses paid to fixed term appointees 
			  Financial year  2008-09( 1)  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Performance year 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 
			 Value of bonuses paid (£) 652,327 286,699 73,191 65,586 
			 Maximum bonus (£) 50,000 50,000 12,546 14,340 
			 (1) Figures for payment in FY 2009-10 are not yet available. 
		
	
	
		
			  End of year performance awards paid to staff below the level of the SCS 
			  Financial year  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Performance year 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 
			 Value of bonuses paid (£) 40,196,000 39,695,110 36,197,006 37,962,800 
			 Maximum bonus(1) (£) 5,500 4,695 3,750 3,750 
			 (1) Median performance bonus was £775. Bonuses are paid in August for contribution in the previous financial year. 
		
	
	
		
			  Special bonuses 
			  Financial year  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Performance year 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 
			 Value of bonuses paid (£) 4,635,021 3,961,417 4,364,400 3,962,482 
			 Maximum bonus (£) 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 
		
	
	
		
			  Summary of bonuses paid 
			  Financial year  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06 
			 Performance year 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 
			 Value of bonuses paid (£) 46,983,348 45,268,926 41,813,097 42,908,868 
			 Maximum bonus (£) 50,000 50,000 12,546 14,340

Gurkhas

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops are serving in Gurkha regiments.

Kevan Jones: As at 1 March 2009, the Brigade of Gurkhas comprised of some 130 Officers and 3,760 other ranks.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Land: Sales

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the monetary value of  (a) grade A and  (b) grade B agricultural land from the national land stock sold off in each year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: The following table shows the number, area and average price of agricultural land sales for Grade 1 and 2 land between 1997 and 2004. Figures are not available separately for these grades of land and may not reflect full sales for 2001-04 because it is not possible to update the information fully without disproportionate cost. Data are not available after 2004.
	
		
			  Agricultural land sales in England 
			   1  and 2  All grades 
			   Number of sales  Area  s old (Ha)  Average price (£  per Ha)  Number of sales  Area  s old (Ha)  Average price (£ per Ha) 
			 1997 552 19,131 7,348 4,187 124,840 6,448 
			 1998 488 15,016 6,974 3,498 103,802 6,134 
			 1999 489 16,319 7,354 3,437 91,534 6,673 
			 2000 462 12,365 6,948 3,227 78,502 7,082 
			 2001 391 13,313 7,072 2,603 65,383 7,406 
			 2002 397 12,524 6,696 3,029 77,487 6,915 
			 2003 315 11,036 7,043 2,459 64,861 7,172 
			 2004 205 6,275 7,256 1,570 37,634 7,654 
			  Note: Grade 1 land is that with very minor or no physical limitations to agricultural use. Yields are consistently high on these soils and cropping highly flexible since most crops can be grown including the more exacting horticultural crops. Grade 2 land has some minor limitations which exclude it from Grade 1. A wide range of agricultural and horticultural crops can usually be grown though there may be restrictions in the range of horticultural crops and arable root crops on some types in this grade.  Source: DEFRA analysis of data supplied by the Valuation Office Agency. More details are available at: https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esq/statnot/alp.xls

Wild Boars: Forest of Dean

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to control the wild boar population in the Forest of Dean.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA is not attempting to control feral wild boar in the Forest of Dean.
	DEFRA's policy is that primary responsibility for feral wild boar management lies with local communities and individual landowners. However, Government are committed to facilitating this regional management through the provision of advice and guidance. The Deer Initiative is responsible for the provision of this advice (in addition to its responsibilities concerning wild deer).

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Electoral Commission plans to take to increase levels of electoral registration.

Peter Viggers: The Commission informs me that it is currently running a public information campaign to encourage people to register to vote before the June 2009 European parliamentary elections and local elections in England. It also delivers targeted campaigns directed at under-registered groups such as recent home movers, students, service personnel and British citizens living abroad.
	Following its first assessment of the performance of Electoral Registration Officers, the Commission also plans to discuss with a number of officers how they intend to improve performance at the 2009 annual canvass. In addition, the Commission plans to continue its programme of research into the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers.

Electoral Register: Standards

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Electoral Commission plans to publish a list of local authority electoral registration departments that are not performing to national standards, with reference to the Commission's recent report Performance standards for electoral registration officers in Great Britain.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that comprehensive detailed information about the 2008 assessment of performance by each ERO in Great Britain against the performance standards has been published on its website. The Commission also informs me that a copy of the data from which its assessment was derived has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

14 Tothill Street

Caroline Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009,  Official Report, column 26W, on 14 Tothill Street, if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum of understanding between the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Nick Harvey: The terms of the memorandum are still under discussion. When it is agreed it will be placed in the Library.

House of Commons: Political Levy

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what rules govern the holding of events funded from the trade union political levy on the Parliamentary estate.

Nick Harvey: There are no specific rules governing the holding of events funded from the trade union political levy on the parliamentary estate; but the general rule is that facilities provided by the House for accredited trade union representatives are not available for party political activity or political campaigning, whether or not it has been funded from the political levy. Similarly, as a general principle, office space and facilities for Members are provided to help carry out parliamentary duties effectively and not for unrelated party purposes. The rules governing the purposes for which Members may use committee, conference, meeting and interview rooms are provided on the parliamentary intranet.

Parliament: Internet

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission for what reasons the Parliamentary intranet was not available on 26 April; what steps the Commission  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to reduce the number of occasions when the intranet is not available; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: There were no reported problems with the availability of the intranet service on 26 April 2009.
	The parliamentary technology infrastructure is being replaced over a three-year period. The replacement improves resilience in order to reduce the number of breakdowns in services. The replacement programme is one third completed and some services, such as the intranet service, are already more resilient than they were in April 2008.

Parliament: Internet

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission on which occasions the Parliamentary intranet has not been available since January 2008; what the reasons were for non-availability in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The parliamentary intranet has been unavailable due to unplanned events on the following occasions since January 2008:
	24 January 2008: 45 minutes due to a domain name service (DNS) failure;
	29 February 2008: 1 hour and 30 minutes due to a proxy server service failure.
	The parliamentary intranet was also unavailable due to planned maintenance on the following occasion:
	21 March 2009: 9 hours due to emergency security patch requirements.
	This answer deals only with the intranet service but access to that service can be denied if there is a failure on the parliamentary network or one of the remote access services that Members use when away from the estate.

SCOTLAND

High-Speed Rail

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on a high-speed rail link between London and Scotland.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend and I have discussions with colleagues on a wide range of issues.

Electricity Generators

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent representations he has received on the costs of generators of electricity in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend receives regular representations from industry on generation and transmission matters in Scotland.

Budget 2009

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect of Budget 2009 on taxpayers in Scotland.

Jim Murphy: Taxpayers in Scotland will benefit from over £100 million in Barnett consequentials, and around £400 million from additional Government investment.

Pleural Plaques

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has recently discussed with the First Minister access to compensation for people in Scotland with pleural plaques.

Ann McKechin: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the First Minister on a range of issues.

Banking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with representatives of banks on the future of banking in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: I am in regular discussion with bank representatives. The Scottish banking system is now well placed to combat these difficult times, after the significant intervention by this Government to stabilise the market, including the £50 billon recapitalisation of RBS and Lloyds.

Gross Domestic Product

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent trends he has identified in the gross domestic product of Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The Scottish economy has not been immune from the global economic difficulties and is now officially in recession. To combat this the UK Government have delivered a £500 million fiscal boost from Budget 2009 measures, a £2 billion boost as part of the 2008 pre-Budget report, all in addition to the substantial interventions to support the Scottish banks.

Broadband Access

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the development of next generation broadband access in rural Scotland.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend has discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues. The Government are very committed to Next Generation Broadband and the opportunities it brings for consumers and businesses alike.
	The Budget confirmed the Government's plan to deliver a Universal Service for broadband at up to 2 Mbps by 2012.
	The Government will also be carrying out research on broadband 'Not spots' under "Delivering Digital Inclusion—An Action Plan for Consultation". This will aim to inform local communities enabling them to manage the risks and realise the opportunities of Next Generation Access locally and regionally, where they identify a need and want to activate their own solutions. This research will cover the whole of the UK.

Equal Pay

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Women and Equality on equal pay between men and women in Scotland.

Ann McKechin: I have had discussions with my right hon. Friend on a range of equal pay issues, including in relation to the provisions in the new Equality Bill. The Bill, which extends to Scotland, includes measures to improve transparency around the gender pay gap.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Air Pollution

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many aeroplanes were subject to  (a) carbon monoxide,  (b) carbon dioxide and  (c) ozone gas level monitoring in cabin air in 2008; in how many and what percentage of cases levels of each gas above acceptable levels were detected; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The presence of gases in aircraft cabin air is not routinely monitored in the UK. Studies such as the European Cabin Air project have shown that normally the levels of chemical and biological contaminants in aircraft are less than in many work environments such as office buildings.
	There are however occasional bad smells or "fume events" during flights, which are estimated to occur on approximately 0.05 per cent of flights overall (one in 2000).
	The Department for Transport funded research is under way to capture samples of aircraft cabin air during normal conditions and fume events and analyse them to see what substances they contain and in what concentrations.
	The research findings will be published as a whole once they are written up and peer reviewed.
	Since 2006 the Government have a statutory duty to safeguard the health of persons on aircraft. As far as we know, that is unique to the UK and we take it seriously.

Aviation: Air Pollution

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors underlie the decision to allocate the research project on cabin air quality to Cranfield; and for what reasons EU public procurement procedures were not invoked in this instance.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The research project was tendered under the single tender procedure and approved in April 2007. Due to the complex logistics and the need for a project manager to develop protocols, this research could not be specified as a normal tender. Following the tender, Cranfield university was chosen by the Department, in consultation with the Department of Health, the Civil Aviation Authority, BALPA (largest pilot trade union) and airlines.

Cycling: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department is providing to Torbay local authority for the National Cycle Network in 2009-10.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not provide funding directly to local authorities for specific projects such as the National Cycle Network, although they may choose to spend some of their LTP—local transport plan—funding on this.
	In 2009-10 the Department has made available £7 million in grant funding to Sustrans for a Links to School programme to provide children with high quality cycle and walking routes to schools, linked to the National Cycle Network and local cycle networks.
	Torbay has not yet applied for any of this although they have until September 2009 to apply to Sustrans for match funding for such links.

Departmental Pay

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1223W, on departmental pay, what the equivalent figures are for each year since his Department was established.

Geoff Hoon: The number of Civil Servants in DFT to receive a non-consolidated performance payment (NCPP) each year since the Department was established is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Total number of staff who received one or more NCPP  Percentage of staff receiving NCPP  Total NCCP paid (£) 
			 2003-04(1) 4,814 47 2,020,828 
			 2004-05(2) 5,537 50 1,881,308 
			 2005-06 13,682 71 8,212,780 
			 2006-07 14,906 77 10,290,961 
			 2007-08 13,472 72 8,909,692 
			 (1) These figures exclude SCS and DVLA which are not available. (2) These figures exclude DVLA which are not available.

M18: Lorries

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1603W, on M42: lorries, if he will consider the merits of prohibiting heavy goods vehicles from travelling in the outside lane on those stretches of the M18 where there are only two lanes.

Paul Clark: There are currently no plans to implement a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) overtaking lane on the M18.

M25: Road Traffic

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will request the Highways Agency to conduct a preliminary study of  (a) the construction of slip roads at junction 5 of the M25 and  (b) the effect this would have on the alleviation of heavy lorry congestion from cross-channel routes.

Paul Clark: Following consideration of the recommendations of the ORBIT multi-modal study, the then Secretary of State in his response, asked the Highways Agency to carry out further work on possible improvements to junction 5 of the M25.
	The objectives of this work were to consider the technical feasibility of building slips roads to connect the M26 to the A21 south of the M25. An initial assessment was completed in 2004 and concluded that although improvements were feasible, further work was necessary to determine whether such options would provide value for money. This work is being progressed by the Highways Agency and its findings will be considered alongside our exercise to establish spending priorities for transport across modes after 2014.
	In light of that, the Government do not consider it necessary at this stage to commission further additional work on improvements to junction 5 of the M25.

Railways: Fares

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to reduce rail fares.

Paul Clark: We have made it clear that were RPI to be negative this year, this could lead to a reduction in fares next year.
	The Government do not intend to change the policy capping regulated fare increases at a maximum of RPI+1 per cent. The policy reflects the need to balance protection for passengers with a move away from very heavy demands on the taxpayer.
	It is our intention that from January 2010 this cap will also generally apply to individual regulated fares, as opposed to being an average over the whole fares basket.
	Unregulated fares are a commercial matter for train operators who are free to set them on a commercial basis.

Railways: Fares

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to promote the availability of the Rover range of rail tickets.

Paul Clark: The Minister of State has recently completed an intensive UK wide rail tour using an All Line Rail Rover which has improved the visibility of this excellent value product to the market. The promotion and advertising of this range of tickets is undertaken by train operators.

Railways: Job Creation

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of jobs likely to be created by planned work on  (a) electrification of parts of the rail network,  (b) construction of high speed rail routes and  (c) re-opening of disused railway lines.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is working with the rail industry to explore the case for further electrification, in particular of the First Great Western and Midland main lines. However, until a decision has been made on whether to take forward such schemes, the extent of the planned electrification and the timescale for doing the work, it is not possible to estimate the number of jobs that might be created.
	High speed two has been formed to develop the case for high speed services between London and Scotland. As a first stage it will report by the end of the year with a proposed route from London to the west midlands, setting out any necessary options. Until a decision is made regarding the construction of a new line or lines, it is not possible to say how many jobs might be created.
	The Government's priority is to maintain and enhance the existing network. Local authorities may put forward proposals to reopen disused lines if they believe this is the best way to meet local transport needs. Construction and manpower for such proposals are a matter for the authority in question.

Railways: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an assessment of the reliability of direct train services between Paignton and London Paddington.

Paul Clark: Department of Transport officials meet First Great Western every four weeks to discuss franchise performance. The Public Performance Measure of each train operator is published by Network Rail on its website at:
	http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/742.aspx

Railways: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with First Great Western on rail services between Exeter and Paignton in the last 12 months; and what the results of such discussions were.

Paul Clark: The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, South (Mr. Harris) met First Great Western on 12 May 2008. First Great Western said it was looking for the Department for Transport's support for solutions for train services west of Exeter following the withdrawal of South West Trains services on those routes in December 2009. Paignton is one of the destinations served by the South West Trains services.
	The Department for Transport subsequently asked First Great Western to make proposals to it for covering the withdrawn South West Trains services west of Exeter. These proposals have been received and are currently under consideration by the Department.

Transport: Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that his Department provides timely assistance and advice to local transport bodies seeking to introduce quality control measures.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport (DfT) provides a range of Guidance to local transport authorities and other bodies. For example, the Department has recently consulted on draft Guidance to inform the next local transport plans, which are due in April 2011. This draft guidance sets out the importance of effective programme, project and risk management, and DfT aims to produce further detailed advice on this subject in due course.
	The Department has also issued detailed guidance in respect of some of the measures included in the Local Transport Act 2008, for example in relation to Quality Partnership schemes that a local authority may make to improve their bus services. There will be further consultation and guidance during 2009 on quality contracts. officials are supporting that through ongoing engagement with regional and local authorities and bus operators.

Transport: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the performance of Torbay local authority in meeting the objectives of its local transport plan.

Paul Clark: Torbay council, along with other local transport authorities in England outside London, has recently undertaken a review of progress made over the first two years of their current local transport plan (April 2006-March 2008).
	As part of this process, the Government office for the south-west met with the authority to discuss progress. Subsequently, it issued a letter to the authority, which is published on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/ltp2/southwest/torbay1.pdf
	Torbay council has made their progress report available on their website at:
	http://www.torbay.gov.uk/ltp2progressreportv5.pdf

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of each document in his Department's file  (a) CPO 14/7 Abortion Laws in Other Countries,  (b) CPO 5/5 Publicity Material and Publications from Anti Abortion Organisation,  (c) CPO 4/28 HF and A Amendment of the Abortion Act 1967 and  (d) CPO 3/6 Abortion Act 1967 Correspondence between Sir Bernard Braine MP and Minister of Health on matters concerning abortions in NHS hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2009,  Official Report, column 570W, on abortion, what the causes of death were in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The information collected on this issue is available in the successive reports of the confidential enquires into maternal deaths (CEMACH), and these reports are available from CEMACH. There were three maternal deaths following termination of pregnancy from 2003-05. One death resulted from severe anaemia from haemorrage from retained products, and the cause of death in the other two cases was unclear.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people were admitted to hospital as a consequence of intoxication through alcohol in each of the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many people were treated for alcohol abuse in each of the last 12 months;
	(3)  how many  (a) women and  (b) men were admitted to hospital for treatment for the effects of alcohol abuse in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: The following tables give the number of admissions to hospital, in England, as a result of alcohol intoxication for 2007-08, the latest year for which this data has been finalised, and the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions, in England, for the last five years for which data is available.
	Concerning treatment, prior to 1 April 2008 there was no routine collection of data on numbers receiving structured care-planned alcohol treatment in England. On 1 April 2008, a National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) begun operation to collect and report local and national information on the provision of structured care-planned treatment for alcohol misuse in England.
	While the first year's NATMS data is due to be reported in October 2009, limited data is reported on the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System website, at:
	www.ndtms.net/alcohol.aspx
	This provides data at a countrywide, strategic health authority and primary care trust level. The latest countrywide data shows that in February 2009, 54,306 people were in contact with specialist alcohol treatment in England, with a year-to-date figure for 2008-09 of 98,058 people.
	
		
			  Hospital admissions with a primary or secondary diagnosis of alcohol intoxication (ICD-10 code F10.1) for 2007-08 in England 
			  Month episode ended*  Admission episodes 
			 April 3,220 
			 May 3,409 
			 June 3,381 
			 July 3,480 
			 August 3,442 
			 September 3,261 
			 October 3,480 
			 November 3,237 
			 December 3,134 
			 January 3,469 
			 February 3,181 
			 March 3,165 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England by sex, for 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   Women  Men  Total 
			 2003-04 218,297 351,121 569,418 
			 2004-05 245,446 398,738 644,184 
			 2005-06 279,136 456,376 735,512 
			 2006-07 300,038 499,080 799,118 
			 2007-08 325,892 537,365 863,257 
			  Notes: Includes activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector * Date episode ended This field contains the date on which a patient left the care of a particular consultant, for one of the following reasons: Discharged from hospital (includes transfers) or moved to the care of another consultant. ICD-10 Code used for alcohol intoxication F10.1 - Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of Alcohol: Acute Intoxication  Alcohol-Related Admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Following international best practice, the NWPHO methodology includes a wide range of diseases and injuries in which alcohol plays a part and estimates the proportion of cases that are attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Details of the conditions and associated proportions can be found in the report Jones et al. (2008) Alcohol-attributable fractions for England: Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions.  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosis These figures represent the number of episodes where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.  Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the alcoholic drinks industry on trends in the rate of harm attributable to the consumption of alcohol in low income communities;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with  (a) primary care trusts and  (b) strategic health authorities on measures to reduce the rate of harm attributable to the consumption of alcohol in low income communities.

Dawn Primarolo: Ministers have not specifically discussed reducing alcohol-related harm in low income communities at recent meetings with the alcohol industry or with primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.
	Reducing alcohol-related harms is an integral part of the Department's health inequalities strategy, as described in 'Health Inequalities—progress and next steps', June 2008. This includes support and funding for primary care trusts in Spearhead areas which face the greatest challenges in reducing the trend of alcohol-related hospital admissions.

Breast Feeding

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of breastfeeding by women from disadvantaged backgrounds;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking  (a) further to encourage breastfeeding and  (b) to support continued breastfeeding by women who return to work.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has a range of interventions in place to promote breastfeeding, including action to help women from disadvantaged backgrounds. These include: investment of £6 million for primary care trusts to implement the Baby Friendly Initiative in hospitals and in the community; the provision of easily accessible and timely advice through the National Breastfeeding Helpline; the breastfeeding DVD "From bump to breastfeeding" given to all new mothers in England via their midwives and health visitors; and a number of promotional materials provided and activities held during the National Breastfeeding Awareness Week. In addition, the Department's healthy start scheme supports breastfeeding mothers from low income and disadvantaged households.
	We are also supporting breastfeeding women at work by promoting breastfeeding-friendly places, engaging with employers and business (shopping centres, retailers, restaurants etc.) encouraging them to provide the necessary facilities to help mothers who wish to breastfeed. We have also published the leaflet "Breastfeeding and Work", providing information to employers and employees on their rights, obligations and best practice to enable women to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Care Homes: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to inspectors of care homes to assist them in assessing how each home performs against each of the national minimum standards; and what factors are taken into account in assessing performance against each standard.

Phil Hope: The Department does not issue guidance directly to inspectors of care homes. The inspection of care homes is the responsibility of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
	We are informed by CQC that it issues a range of guidance documents to its inspectors. "How we inspect services: Guidance for inspectors" gives an overview of:
	each stage of the key inspection cycle—from planning, to fieldwork and reporting; and
	the different types of inspections—key, random and thematic.
	The guidance is available on the CQC website at:
	www.cqc.org.uk/_db/_documents/20081014_How_we_inspect_care_services_310-08.doc
	Key Lines of Regulatory Assessment (KLORA) helps inspectors make decisions about the quality of a service. They give examples of what to look for to decide whether service users experience poor, adequate, good or excellent outcomes. KLORA is available on the CQC website at:
	www.cqc.org.uk/guidanceforprofessionals/socialcare/careproviders/inspection/keylinesofregulatoryassessment.cfm

Depression: Children

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged  (a) under 10 years and  (b) under 16 years were diagnosed with depression (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available.

Phil Hope: We do not routinely collect this information. However, a 2004 survey by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that 9.6 per cent. of children in Great Britain aged between five and 16 suffered from some kind of mental disorder. The survey was based on interviews with a sample of parents and children. The full results are published in the ONS report 'Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain'.
	Details on prevalence of mental disorders by age and sex, 2004 are listed in the following table.
	
		
			  Prevalence of mental disorders by age and sex, 2004—All children Great Britain 
			  Percentage of children with each disorder 
			   5  to 10-year-olds  11  to 16-year-olds  All children 
			   Boys  Girls  All  Boys  Girls  All  Boys  Girls  All 
			  Emotional disorders 2.2 2.5 2.4 4.0 6.1 5.0 3.1 4.3 3.7 
			 Anxiety disorders 2.1 2.4 2.2 3.6 5.2 4.4 2.9 3.8 3.3 
			 Separation anxiety 0.4 0.7 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.4 
			 Specific phobia 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 
			 Social phobia 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 Panic — — — 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.2 
			 Agoraphobia — — — 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 
			 Post traumatic stress — 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.2 
			 Obsessive compulsive 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Generalised anxiety 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.9 1.6 1.2 0.6 1.0 0.8 
			 Other anxiety 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.9 1.5 1.2 0.8 1.1 0.9 
			   
			  Depression 0.2 0.3 0.2 1.0 1.9 1.4 0.6 1.1 0.9 
			 Depressive episode (full ICD criteria) 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.8 1.4 1.1 0.5 0.8 0.6 
			 Other depressive episode 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 
			   
			  Conduct disorders 6.9 2.8 4.9 8.1 5.1 6.6 7.5 3.9 5.8 
			 Oppositional defiant disorder 4.5 2.4 3.5 3.5 1.7 2.6 4.0 2.0 3.0 
			 Unsocialised conduct disorder 0.9 0.3 0.6 1.2 0.8 1.0 1.1 0.5 0.8 
			 Socialised conduct disorder 0.6 — 0.3 2.6 1.9 2.2 1.6 0.9 1.3 
			 Other conduct disorder 0.9 0.1 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.4 0.6 
			   
			  Hyperkinetic disorder 2.7 0.4 1.6 2.4 0.4 1.4 2.6 0.4 1.5 
			   
			  Less common disorders 2.2 0.4 1.3 1.6 1.1 1.4 1.9 0.8 1.3 
			 Autistic spectrum disorder 1.9 0.1 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.8 1.4 0.3 0.9 
			 Tic disorders 0.0 0.1 0.1 — — — 0.0 0.1 0.0 
			 Eating disorders 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.3 
			 Mutism — 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.1 
			   
			  Any disorder 10.2 5.1 7.7 12.6 10.3 11.5 11.4 7.8 9.6 
			   
			 Base (weighted) 2,010 1,916 3,926 2,101 1,950 4,051 4,111 3,866 7,977

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment the Food Standards Agency has made of the likely effects on manufacturers and retailers of nutritional supplements of the provisions of Article  (a) 13.3 and  (b) 16.1, 17.1 and 18.4 of the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation in relation to the role of the European Food Safety Authority.

Dawn Primarolo: The regulation has transition periods to allow food business operators to respond to the effect of decisions on the authorisation of health claims, such as the need to re-label if claims are not authorised. Any delays in completing the process set out in the provisions to these articles could affect the ability of food business operators to respond to new conditions on products within normal re-labelling cycles and additional costs could occur. This possible outcome was discussed in the impact assessment the Food Standards Agency finalised in July 2007.

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from manufacturers and retailers of nutritional supplements on the economic impact assessment of the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation.

Dawn Primarolo: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not received any such representations. Written representations with revised assessments of the economic impact of the European Union Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation have however been received by Food Standards Agency officials from two of the food supplement industry's trade associations.

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on applications to the European Food Safety Authority for the approval of statements submitted under Article 13.1 of the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation.

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has kept a record of all claims submitted to the United Kingdom under Article 13.1 of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation for application to the European Union list, and subsequent correspondence with submitters. Details of the consolidated EU list of health claims undergoing assessment, which also includes applications submitted by other member states, is publicly available on the European Food Safety Authority's website. The FSA has kept stakeholders fully informed of developments with the Article 13 process and will continue to do so as work progresses.

Drugs: Babies

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were drug dependent at birth in each region in each of the last five years; and what the numbers of such children in the case of each type of drug were. [Official Report, 1 June 2009, Vol. 493, c. 1MC.]

Dawn Primarolo: The following tables show the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary or secondary diagnosis was either neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction or withdrawal from therapeutic use of drugs in newborns. It is not possible to provide information on the type of drug to which a newborn child is addicted.
	
		
			  Counts of FCEs with a primary or secondary diagnosis of neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs by strategic health authority (SHA) of residence for the period 2006-07 and 2007-08 
			  SHA of residence  Total finished consultant birth episodes 
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			 North East SHA 52 9 
			 North West SHA 100 145 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber SHA 163 122 
			 East Midlands SHA 64 51 
			 West Midlands SHA 82 56 
			 East of England SHA 95 66 
			 London SHA 66 51 
			 South East Coast SHA 40 30 
			 South Central SHA 20 42 
			 South West SHA 60 81 
			 Other and unknown 469 577 
			
			 Total 1,211 1,230 
		
	
	
		
			  Counts of FCEs with a primary or secondary diagnosis of neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs by SHA of residence for the period 2003-04 and 2005-06 
			  SHA of residence  Total finished consultant birth episodes 
			   2005-06  2004-05  2003-04 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge SHA * * * 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA 12 16 10 
			 Essex SHA 0 8 * 
			 North West London SHA 11 11 11 
			 North Central London SHA 12 13 * 
			 North East London SHA * 0 * 
			 South East London SHA * * * 
			 South West London SHA * 0 * 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA 6 * * 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 17 30 40 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA 23 27 45 
			 West Yorkshire SHA 12 11 27 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA 7 12 16 
			 Greater Manchester SHA 10 8 11 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside SHA 54 63 40 
			 Thames Valley SHA 7 * * 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA * 9 7 
			 Kent and Medway SHA 0 * * 
			 Surrey and Sussex SHA 13 11 13 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA 62 40 44 
			 South West Peninsula SHA 17 17 10 
			 Dorset and Somerset SHA 28 8 9 
			 South Yorkshire SHA * * * 
			 Trent SHA 6 8 10 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland SHA 21 * 0 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA 13 6 12 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country SHA * * * 
			 West Midlands South SHA * 0 6 
			 Other and unknown 860 873 817 
			 
			 Total 1,211 1,193 1,156 
			  Notes: 1. ICD-10 diagnosis codes used: P96.1 Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction. P96.2 Withdrawal symptoms form therapeutic use of drugs in newborn. 2. Low numbers: Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with '*' (an asterisk). 3. Ungrossed data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care

Drugs: Misuse

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were admitted to hospital for conditions related to the misuse of illegal drugs  (a) in each region in each year since 1997-98 and  (b) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally.

Eating Disorders

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) males and  (b) females aged (i) under 10, (ii) between 10 and 18 and (iii) over 18 years in each region were admitted to hospital for eating disorders in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Epilepsy: Health Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidance his Department has issued to  (a) local authorities,  (b) educational institutions and  (c) voluntary organisations on the provision of services to those with epilepsy.

Ann Keen: The Department has issued no recent guidance to local authorities, educational institutions and voluntary organisations on the provision of services specifically for those living with epilepsy.
	However, officials have been working with NHS Choices to produce detailed guidance and information for health professionals and the general public on epilepsy which can be accessed at the website
	www.nhs.uk/livewell/epilepsy/Pages/Epilepsyhome.aspx
	This guidance includes information on diagnosis and the available treatment options, specific information for children with epilepsy including those with learning disabilities and special education needs, as well as advice and links to sites covering issues around work and benefit rights.

Food: Labelling

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he expects the Community List referred to in Article 13.2 of the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation to be published by 31 January 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 April 2009,  Official Report, column 833W.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which sexual health clinics have  (a) applied for and  (b) been granted the 'You're Welcome' quality mark.

Dawn Primarolo: The operating framework for the NHS in England 2009-10 (copies of which have already been placed in the Library) encourages local areas to implement 'You're Welcome' standards, which set out principles for all health care settings to ensure they are young people friendly.
	The initial area of focus in the roll-out of 'You're Welcome' was to put in place a regionally based infrastructure to support primary care trusts and children's trusts to implement locally owned, sustainable arrangements for 'You're Welcome'. The focus now is on promoting uptake in both national health service and non-NHS provision through a wide reaching dissemination programme which has been put in place across the nine regions. The regions are prioritising sexual and reproductive health services during 2009-10.
	To date, 41 health services have already applied for 'You're Welcome' quality mark. Of these, 32 are sexual health services, 16 of which have been granted the quality mark which are:
	ARC at Stowe;
	Bpas Leigham Clinic;
	Brook Brixton;
	Brook Liverpool;
	Brook Manchester;
	Brook Milton Keynes;
	Brook Oldham;
	Carlton Street Centre for Sexual Health;
	CHYPS Plus;
	Market Street Health Centre;
	North Ormsby Health Village Contraception and Sexual Health Service;
	The Parallel;
	Sex Sense at Paulsgrove Healthy Living Centre;
	Streetwise Young Peoples Project;
	Vauxhall Riverside Sexual Health Service; and
	Victoria Clinic.

Health Services: Non-profit Making Associations

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely effect on future commissioning services in primary care trusts of the provision for health-care made by social enterprises.

Phil Hope: The Department has not made such an assessment.
	National health service commissioning is focused upon improving the quality of care, personalisation and improving outcomes for individuals. Patient choice and increasing the plurality of providers are key to this.
	Primary care trusts are currently developing their commissioning plans for community services, which includes considering future patterns of provision, including social enterprises.

Hospitals: Furniture

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work his Department has undertaken with  (a) the Design Council and  (b) the national health service on the development of new furniture design for hospitals to reduce the incidence of health-care acquired infections in hospitals.

Ann Keen: In autumn 2007, the Department held workshops with around 500 national health service doctors, nurses and cleaning staff at which ideas were gathered about what kinds of technology might be used to further help combat health care-associated infections more effectively. From the 150 ideas generated, 10 were prioritised as showing the most promise and these have been subject to design and development programmes since that time. Among the 10 prioritised ideas are two items of furniture—a waste bin/locker and a new style commode. Working prototypes are currently subject to clinical trials at University College London Hospital.
	Additionally, the Department commissioned the Design Council to deliver a competition in which designers joined forces with manufacturers to develop working prototypes of furniture for the bedside environment (patient chair, bedside storage and overbed table), a porter's chair and a commode. The Design Council also worked with the Royal College of Art's Helen Hamlyn Centre to design innovations in a further five areas, one of which was a new style 'intelligent' patient bed mattress. These prototypes have now been launched and will be showcased over the next three weeks at seven NHS hospitals and then at a number of health care conferences through until the autumn.

Learning Disability: Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what role the Transforming Adult Social Care Programme Board will have in relation to adult social care for people with a learning disability;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to monitor the work of the Transforming Adult Social Care Programme Board;
	(3)  what steps his Department plans to take to  (a) monitor and  (b) evaluate the (i) implementation and (ii) use of the Transforming Social Care grant within each local authority.

Phil Hope: The Transforming Adult Social Care Programme Board is a cross-sector body, which brings together the key partners responsible for oversight of delivery of all dimensions of "Putting People First" (a copy of which has already been placed in the Library) for all citizens, including people with learning disabilities. The Terms of Reference, current membership and agreed minutes of meetings are available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/SocialCare/Socialcarereform/Personalisation/DH_088549
	The Department has governance structures and performance management processes in place to monitor its work to deliver "Putting People First" through the Transforming Adult Social Care Board. Other partners are responsible for monitoring their own contributions to the programme.
	The Department of Health does not directly monitor the use of the ring-fenced Social Care Reform Grant for each local authority. However we expect that the Care Quality Commission will do so, against the clear outcomes set out in the Local Authority Circular, LAC (DH)(2009)1, which can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/LocalAuthorityCirculars/DH_095719
	A copy has been placed in the Library.
	As partners on the Transforming Adult Social Care Programme Board, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association undertook to measure and report on progress in implementing "Putting People First" over the year 2008- 09. They are due to publish the report on 11 May.

Mental Health Services

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on funding for cognitive behavioural therapy on funding for fully-qualified psychologists.

Phil Hope: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations about effective treatments, after investigating the available evidence: it offers no guidance about funding.
	The Government announced three years of funding, rising to £173 million in 2010-11, to train a new workforce in cognitive behavioural therapy to help the national health service put in place NICE guidance for treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.
	Already some 800 trainees are in place and a further 1,700 will start this autumn. All these trainees are supervised by fully-trained psychologists in order to safeguard the quality of the therapy services they are delivering now and in the future.

Mentally Ill: Children

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many prescriptions of anti-psychotic drugs were issued to children aged  (a) under 10 years and  (b) under 16 years (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many prescriptions for anti-depressants were issued to children aged  (a) under 10 years and  (b) under 16 years (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many prescriptions for drugs to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder were issued to children aged  (a) under 10 years and  (b) under 16 years (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each primary care trust area in the last year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally.

NHS Treatment Centres: Private Sector

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of the payments made to independent sector treatment centres has been since their introduction; and what cost would have been incurred in payments under the tariff set for comparable NHS procedures.

Ben Bradshaw: The total cost of the payments made to independent sector treatment centre providers up to 31 March 2009 is £1,215 million.
	The Department does not hold information about what the total cost of the payments to independent sector treatment centre providers would have been under the tariff set for comparable national health services procedures.

NHS: Drugs

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence follows to determine the order of priority in which it makes appraisals of particular drugs.

Dawn Primarolo: Following final referral of technology appraisal topics by the Secretary of State for Health, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence sequences its work based on the date of referral of topics and their anticipated licensing timeframe.

NHS: Drugs

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1235W, on orphan drugs, when he expects to publish the Government's response to the consultation.

Dawn Primarolo: The joint Department of Health and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) consultation on a revised topic selection process for technology appraisals will close on 22 May. The Department and NICE will publish information on action following the consultation later this year.

NHS: Information and Communications Technology

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's strategy for accelerating the delivery for the National Programme for IT.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department's strategy for accelerating delivery of the national programme is set out in the Treasury Minute on the second report from the Committee of Public Accounts, Cm 7568, laid before Parliament on 26 March 2009. A copy is available in the Library.

NHS: Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of pension payments made to NHS employees was who took early retirement between the date of their retirement and the date they reached the NHS pension scheme normal retirement age was in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not available in the form requested. The total premature retirement costs including the cost of paying pensions and lump sum early, enhancements of lump sum and enhanced service after normal retirement age are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Premature retirement costs prefunded (one-off capitalised costs) 67,581 52,470 51,609 162,578 198,567 
			 Premature retirement costs quarterly recharge 0 65,281 64,235 64,742 A 62,732 
			  Note: National health service organisations had a choice of paying for premature retirement either by quarterly recharge of actual costs or by a one off capitalised charge.  Source: NHS Pensions

NHS: Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance the NHS pension scheme has issued on the award of enhancements under the scheme to NHS staff who are members of the scheme and who  (a) are made redundant,  (b) take early retirement on grounds of ill health and  (c) take early retirement on grounds other than those of ill health.

Ann Keen: The enhancements available to staff who retire early are set out in the scheme regulations and a booklet entitled "Notes for pensioners and their dependants" which provides general guidance about their pension and related issues for example the process for payment of retirement benefits. In addition, a booklet containing guidance about the scheme is provided to all national health service staff on entry into the service and is also available on the NHS pensions website. Copies have been placed in the Library.
	The specific arrangements are as follows:
	 (a) Staff over minimum pension age who are made redundant can elect to use their redundancy payment to pay for their pension to be taken early without actuarial reduction. For staff in post in October 2006, transitional arrangements allowing some enhancements are also available until October 2011.
	 (b) Since April 2008, the NHS pension scheme has two tier ill-health retirement arrangements. Staff who for reasons of ill-health are permanently incapable of efficiently discharging the duties of their employment (the 'tier 1 condition') are eligible for early payment of pension without reduction. Staff who are permanently incapable of regular employment of like duration (the 'tier 2 condition') in addition to meeting the tier 1 condition are eligible for an enhancement of two thirds of pensionable service until their normal pension age.
	 (c) The other forms of early retirement available are voluntary early retirement where the member has their pension reduced actuarially and retirement in the interests of the service where the employer pays for the cost of the members retiring without a reduction for early payment of pension.

Organic Food

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the potential effects on public health of organic foods in the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has advised that it has commissioned an independent systematic literature review to evaluate the evidence on nutrient content differences between organic and conventionally-produced foodstuffs and any associated health benefits. The review has just been completed and the results have been submitted by the researchers to a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The full review report will be made available at the same time as the summary results are published in the scientific press.
	The agency continues to assess new research on organic foods as it is published.

Swine Flu: Royal Family

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has made arrangements to monitor the health of members of the royal family during the current outbreak of swine influenza in Mexico.

Dawn Primarolo: The royal family has its own medical advisers to monitor their health. Clearly, all information issued by this Department is available to everyone, including members of the royal family.

Telecommunications: Health Hazards

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department has  (a) conducted and  (b) evaluated on the effects on public health of long-term exposure to wireless internet networks.

Dawn Primarolo: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) advises the Government in relation to the protection of communities from radiation hazards, including those associated with exposure to non-ionising radiation such as the radio waves from wireless communication systems. The agency has concluded that there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio waves from wireless networks adversely affects the health of the general population. On the basis of current knowledge and experience, exposures are likely to be lower than those from mobile phones and well within the internationally accepted guidelines from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The Agency also considers it sensible, as with any new technology, to adopt a precautionary approach, and keeps the situation under review.
	HPA announced in October 2007 that it was to carry out a systematic programme of research into wireless local area networks (WLANs) and their use. At the same time HPA stressed that it had good reasons to expect the results from this research to be reassuring and that there is no reason why schools and others should not use wireless fidelity (WiFi) equipment. This work is ongoing and expected to be complete in 2010. It includes assessments of exposures around selected items of WiFi equipment through measurements and computer modelling and is part of the Agency's ongoing programme of work in the area of electromagnetic fields. Details can be seen on the HPA web site at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733726123?p=1171991026241
	In addition to its own research, HPA monitors studies being carried out by others, and conducts comprehensive reviews of the scientific evidence. Its independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising radiation (AGNIR) also prepares reviews of the evidence for health effects. The most recent AGNIR review of health effects in relation to radio waves was published in 2003 (see Documents of the NRPB, volume 14, number 2) and this is also available on the HPA website. AGNIR is about to prepare another review of the health effects of radio wave exposures and this is expected to take two to three years to complete.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CDC

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which CDC investee companies have been sampled for the purposes of estimating their tax payments in each of the last five years.

Douglas Alexander: As part of its continuing development evaluation work, CDC started to collect tax payment data from its investee companies last year.
	CDC collects this information in relation to both subsidiary and non-subsidiary investee companies. As at 31 December 2008, CDC had received tax payment data from 272 investee companies. A list of these companies will be placed in the Library of the House.
	The tax payment data are used by CDC to calculate an aggregate tax paid figure for all its investee companies.

Malawi: Health Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effects of his Department's funding for health services in Malawi on the number of unfilled  (a) nursing,  (b) midwifery and  (c) doctor posts in Malawi's health services in the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £109 million of funding to health services in Malawi over the six-year period 2005-11 including £45 million to the Emergency Human Resource Programme (EHRP).
	DFID's recent assessment is that the funding has led to increases in the numbers of nurses, midwives and doctors working in Malawi's health services in the last three years:
	 (a) The number of registered nurses has increased from 3,250 to 4,450
	 (b) The proportion of health centres with two staff members having midwifery skills, has increased from 23 per cent. to 48 per cent.
	 (c) The number of practising doctors has increased from 140 to 190.
	Although vacancy rates of health staff remain high, 77 per cent. for nurses and 67 per cent. for doctors, our assessment is that this does not reflect the real progress made. This is due to the fact that in 2006 the Ministry of Health conducted a Functional Review of the health sector which increased the number of health sector posts from 23,114 to 42,309, greatly raising the number of unfilled posts.

Overseas Aid

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development by how much the monetary value of the Government's official development assistance has fallen as a result of the decline in the value of sterling in the last 12 months; what assessment he has made of the effect of this decline on the Government's commitment towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: It is not the policy of the Government to comment on the value of sterling.
	My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed in the Budget that the UK remains on track to meet the target of raising development aid to 0.7 per cent. of national income by 2013.

WALES

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with greater than 250kW of output; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report.

Paul Murphy: My Department's main listed office building in London does not have an air conditioning system greater than 250kW.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007.

Paul Murphy: My Department's listed office building in London does not have an air conditioning system greater than 250kW and inspections under the regulations are not required. We also lease office space in Cardiff, but air conditioning systems and inspections are provided as part of the building infrastructure and are the responsibility of the landlord.

Trade Unions

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009,  Official Report, column 55W, on trade unions, what office facilities his Department provides for the exclusive use of each recognised trade union; and what the notional annual value of such provision is.

Paul Murphy: No exclusive office facilities are provided in Wales Office premises but as our staff are employed by Ministry of Justice or the Welsh Assembly Government, office facilities are offered by each of these organisations.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Saville Inquiry has spent on security for  (a) legal companies and  (b) witnesses.

Shaun Woodward: I am advised that the Bloody Sunday inquiry has spent approximately £3.4 million on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs incurred by the inquiry associated with providing security for either legal teams or witnesses.
	Various security measures were provided by the Government in relation to security for witnesses. These measures ranged from physical protection by the police and security guards, to IT security for the protection of witness information. Given the nature of such security measures, the duration of the inquiry and the distribution of costs throughout various Government Departments and agencies, I am advised that a figure could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Criminal Investigation

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  on how many occasions and in what circumstances the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team has departed from its policy of investigating deaths in chronological order; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many investigations undertaken by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team have related to the death of a  (a) police officer,  (b) member of the Ulster Defence Regiment,  (c) member of the Army other than the Ulster Defence Regiment and  (d) civilian; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many deaths the Historical Enquiries Team has investigated to date; of those investigated how many cases have  (a) been closed,  (b) been referred for prosecution and  (c) led to successful prosecutions; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: These are operational matters for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and copies of his letters will be placed in the Library of the House.

Independent Monitoring Commission

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the Independent Monitoring Commission to publish its next report.

Shaun Woodward: I have received the 21st report of the Independent Monitoring Commission and will publish it shortly.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Complaints

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many Police Service of Northern Ireland police officers have been disciplined for concealing shoulder numbers in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many complaints have been made against Police Service of Northern Ireland police officers for concealing shoulder numbers in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Dealing with such complaints is the operational responsibility of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. I have asked the chief executive to reply to the hon. Member directly, and will arrange for copies of the letters to be placed in the Library of the House.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Manpower

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff work in the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many racially-motivated assaults in Northern Ireland were reported in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and how many successful prosecutions there were arising from such assaults.

Paul Goggins: In 2006-07 there were 251 and in 2007-08 there were 204 reported racially-motivated assaults/wounding. Data include the offence categories of, 'wounding with intent', 'grievous bodily harm with intent', 'wounding,' 'grievous bodily harm', 'assault occasioning actual bodily harm', 'common assault', 'aggravated assault' and 'assault on police'.
	The information sought on successful prosecutions is not available. Legislation for racial hatred is provided for by way of The Criminal Justice (No. 2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004. Under this order, penalties for convictions for specified violent offences can be increased by the court if racial hatred, sexual orientation, gender or disability was an aggravating factor. Court data do not contain background information in relation to offences committed and it is therefore not possible to separate out the number of successful prosecutions for racially motivated offences in Northern Ireland.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many anti-Semitic assaults occurred in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Trade Unions

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009,  Official Report, column 826W, on trade unions, which trade unions his Department's agencies recognise.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office agencies attach great importance to ensuring effective consultation and involvement of its staff. It is a personal decision whether or not to join a trade union; however the agencies encourage staff to join an appropriate trade union and to play an active part in it, ensuring their views are represented.
	Members of staff in the Northern Ireland Office agencies are currently represented by the following trade unions:
	Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA);
	First Division Association (FDA);
	Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS);
	National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT);
	Prison Officer's Association (POA);
	Unison;
	Prison Governor's Association (PGA).

JUSTICE

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many penalty notices for disorder were issued in each year since 2004, broken down by  (a) age of recipient and  (b) offence.

Maria Eagle: The number of penalty notices for disorder (PND) issued since 2004 in England and Wales, broken down by age group and offence is shown in tables 1 to 4.
	PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to offenders aged 16 to 17 years by offence, England and Wales 2004-07( 1) 
			  Offence  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Higher Tier Offences (£80) 
			 Wasting police time 69 215 353 327 
			 Misuse of public telecommunications system 6 24 79 106 
			 Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority 8 6 15 15 
			 Causing Harassment, alarm or distress 1,968 5,846 8,122 7,068 
			 Throwing fireworks(2) 20 90 101 102 
			 Drunk and disorderly(3) 1,328 2,354 3,009 2,941 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(4) 103 1,408 2,866 2,796 
			 Theft (retail under £200)(4) 167 1,806 3,861 4,474 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(5) — 4 7 3 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(5) 3 2 6 5 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(5) 18 42 69 106 
			 Sale of alcohol to drunken person(6) — 2 1 1 
			 Supply of alcohol to a person under 18 — — 5 1 
			 Sale of alcohol to a person under 18(4) 6 79 91 77 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18(4) 7 20 45 51 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18 for consumption on the premises — 21 17 13 
			 Delivery of alcohol to a person under 18 or allowing such delivery(4) 1 20 24 36 
			  
			  Lower Tier Offences (£50) 
			 Trespassing on a railway 17 73 256 291 
			 Throwing stones at a train/railway 2 5 4 10 
			 Drunk in a highway 31 103 149 106 
			 Consumption of alcohol in a designated public place 20 56 136 172 
			 Depositing and leaving litter(4) 11 185 253 301 
			 Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 7 74 67 85 
			 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 1 2 — 1 
			 Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol by a person under 18(6) — 17 62 158 
			  
			  Total 
			 Total Higher Tier Offences 3,704 11,939 18,671 18,122 
			 Total Lower Tier Offences 89 515 927 1,124 
			  
			 Total all offences 3,793 12,454 19,598 19,246 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 5 March 2004. (3) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 1 November 2004. (4 )Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. (5 )Offence added with effect from 11 October 2004. (6) Offence added with effect from 4 April 2005.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to offenders aged 18 to 20 years by offence, England and Wales 2004-07( 1) 
			  Offence  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Higher Tier Offences (£80) 
			 Wasting police time 236 499 726 778 
			 Misuse of public telecommunications system 19 55 117 182 
			 Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority 8 27 31 32 
			 Causing Harassment, alarm or distress 8,145 17,998 21,664 20,091 
			 Throwing fireworks(2) 70 189 193 211 
			 Drunk and disorderly(3) 6,511 9,292 10,735 11,555 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(4) 354 3,290 5,521 5,482 
			 Theft (retail under £200)(4) 342 3,381 6,036 7,239 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(5) 1 9 13 10 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(5) 2 8 3 4 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(5) 2 3 1 — 
			 Sale of alcohol to drunken person(6) — 5 10 17 
			 Supply of alcohol to a person under 18 — — 18 17 
			 Sale of alcohol to a person under 18(4) 29 486 660 737 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18(4) 27 77 176 296 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18 for consumption on the premises — 21 17 30 
			 Delivery of alcohol to a person under 18 or allowing such delivery(4) 7 95 151 207 
			  
			  Lower Tier Offences (£50) 
			 Trespassing on a railway 26 54 228 348 
			 Throwing stones at a train/railway 13 5 5 5 
			 Drunk in a highway 279 389 335 275 
			 Consumption of alcohol in a designated public place 100 103 155 293 
			 Depositing and leaving litter(4) 19 212 357 393 
			 Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) — 3 5 — 
			 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 2 1 2 1 
			 Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol by a person under 18(6) — 2 5 — 
			  
			  Total 
			 Total Higher Tier Offences 15,753 35,435 46,072 46,888 
			 Total Lower Tier Offences 439 769 1,092 1,315 
			  
			 Total all offences 16,192 36,204 47,164 48,203 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 5 March 2004. (3) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 1 November 2004. (4 )Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. (5 )Offence added with effect from 11 October 2004. (6) Offence added with effect from 4 April 2005.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to offenders aged 21 and over by offence, England and Wales 2004-07( 1) 
			  Offence  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Higher Tier Offences (£80) 
			 Wasting police time 866 1,811 2,854 2,861 
			 Misuse of public telecommunications system 92 326 713 905 
			 Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority 28 59 60 49 
			 Causing Harassment, alarm or distress 18,677 40,163 52,449 50,668 
			 Throwing fireworks(2) 87 363 388 336 
			 Drunk and disorderly(3) 18,770 25,392 29,812 32,500 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(4) 733 7,470 12,233 11,668 
			 Theft (retail under £200)(4) 1,563 16,810 28,875 33,433 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(5) 11 20 33 26 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(5) 7 3 19 13 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(5) — 2 6 — 
			 Sale of alcohol to drunken person(6) — 25 36 63 
			 Supply of alcohol to a person under 18 — 3 37 36 
			 Sale of alcohol to a person under 18(4) 78 1,493 2,444 2,769 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18(4) 50 73 186 208 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18 for consumption on the premises — 41 26 21 
			 Delivery of alcohol to a person under 18 or allowing such delivery(4) 12 94 122 188 
			  
			  Lower Tier Offences (£50) 
			 Trespassing on a railway 53 93 558 888 
			 Throwing stones at a train/railway 51 10 6 10 
			 Drunk in a highway 2,187 2,646 2,228 1,685 
			 Consumption of alcohol in a designated public place 365 553 770 1,079 
			 Depositing and leaving litter(4) 21 340 559 680 
			 Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) — 7 3 — 
			 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 3 24 12 9 
			 Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol by a person under 18(6) — 2 6 — 
			  
			  Total 
			 Total Higher Tier Offences 40,974 94,148 130,293 135,744 
			 Total Lower Tier Offences 2,680 3,675 4,142 4,351 
			  
			 Total all offences 43,654 97,823 134,435 140,095 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 5 March 2004. (3) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 1 November 2004. (4 )Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. (5 )Offence added with effect from 11 October 2004. (6) Offence added with effect from 4 April 2005.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to offenders aged 16 and over by offence, England and Wales 2004-07( 1) 
			  Offence  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Higher Tier Offences (£80) 
			 Wasting police time 1,171 2,525 3,933 3,966 
			 Misuse of public telecommunications system 117 405 909 1,193 
			 Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority 44 92 106 96 
			 Causing Harassment, alarm or distress 28,790 64,007 82,235 77,827 
			 Throwing fireworks(2) 177 642 682 649 
			 Drunk and disorderly(3) 26,609 37,038 43,556 46,996 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(4) 1,190 12,168 20,620 19,946 
			 Theft (retail under £200)(4) 2,072 21,997 38,772 45,146 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(5) 12 33 53 39 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(5) 12 13 28 22 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(5) 20 47 76 106 
			 Sale of alcohol to drunken person(6) n/a 32 47 81 
			 Supply of alcohol to a person under 18 — 3 60 54 
			 Sale of alcohol to a person under 18(4) 113 2,058 3,195 3,583 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18(4) 84 170 407 555 
			 Purchasing alcohol for a person under 18 for consumption on the premises — 83 60 64 
			 Delivery of alcohol to a person under 18 or allowing such delivery(4) 20 209 297 431 
			  
			  Lower Tier Offences (£50) 
			 Trespassing on a railway 96 220 1,042 1,527 
			 Throwing stones at a train/railway 66 20 15 25 
			 Drunk in a highway 2,497 3,138 2,712 2,066 
			 Consumption of alcohol in a designated public place 485 712 1,061 1,544 
			 Depositing and leaving litter(4) 51 737 1,169 1,374 
			 Consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 7 84 75 85 
			 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 on relevant premises(4) 6 27 14 11 
			 Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol by a person under 18(6) n/a 21 73 158 
			  
			  Total 
			 Total Higher Tier Offences 60,431 141,522 195,036 200,754 
			 Total Lower Tier Offences 3,208 4,959 6,161 6,790 
			  
			 Total all offences 63,639 146,481 201,197 207,544 
			 n/a = Not applicable (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 5 March 2004. (3) Offence moved from the lower tier (£50) to the upper tier (£80) on 1 November 2004. (4 )Offence added with effect from 1 November 2004. (5 )Offence added with effect from 11 October 2004. (6) Offence added with effect from 4 April 2005.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice

Ashwell Prison

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what factors he took into account when deciding on the nature of the review of the disturbance at HM Prison Ashwell on 11 April 2009.

David Hanson: There are a number of types of incident where the National Offender Management Service automatically initiates an investigation and the disturbance at Ashwell was clearly a matter which required investigation.
	The Chief Operating Officer of NOMS was the Commissioning Authority for the investigation. He asked the Head of National Operations Group, who has significant operational experience to lead the investigation, supported by the Governor of HMP Stafford.
	I will make the findings of the investigation and our conclusions on it available to the House in due course.

Ashwell Prison

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers constitute the normal night staff team at HM Prison Ashwell; and how many prison officers were on duty on the night of 10-11 April 2009.

David Hanson: The normal staffing levels for night patrol at HMP Ashwell are eight operational support grades (OSG), four prison officers and one senior officer. On the night of 10-11 April staffing levels exactly matched normal levels with the addition of another senior officer who was on induction for night duties and was shadowing a colleague.

Bribery Bill: Draft

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice from which organisations he has received representations on the draft Bribery Bill; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each representation received.

Maria Eagle: The draft Bribery Bill was published 25 March 2009 for pre-legislative scrutiny. Since its publication the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has written to the Justice Secretary to welcome the publication of the draft Bill and to urge its adoption as early as possible. There will be the opportunity for other organisations to make representations to the committee undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament.

Community Service Orders

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse has been of advertising the Community Payback scheme; and what role members of the public have in determining the work undertaken by offenders.

David Hanson: The Community Payback campaign aims to raise awareness of Community Payback by inviting members of the public to vote for unpaid work to be completed by offenders in their area.
	Since the creation of the Ministry of Justice, £63,000 has been spent on advertising Community Payback across 59 pioneer areas in England and Wales in March/April 2009. Funding was provided by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice incurred no costs. The campaign invited the public to vote on a selected number of projects running in participating areas or to nominate new projects.
	In 2007-08 55,771 people successfully completed community payback sentences. This amounts to over eight million hours of labour, used to benefit the community. The majority of the public surveyed in 2008 wanted to have a say on the type of work that was undertaken by offenders.
	The Mayoral Project which involves Mayors and Civic Leaders to identify and sponsor Community Payback work project during their year in office, incurred no advertising costs nationally.

Crown Dependencies: Prisoners

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners from Crown Dependencies are serving time in British prisons for drug or alcohol-related offences.

David Hanson: British Crown Dependencies consist of the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man and their citizens are British citizens. Any prisoners from the British Crown Dependencies are therefore included in the total number of British national prisoners and cannot be separately identified.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force.

Maria Eagle: From the information collected so far, the Ministry of Justice has spent £142,920 on carrying out inspections of air conditioning within departmental buildings that we have information for in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the regulations came into force. We are still awaiting returns and I will write to the hon. Member providing an updated figure when I have complete information.

Drugs: Sentencing

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of  (a) possession and  (b) supply of illegal drugs in each year since 1997; and how many received a custodial sentence in each case.

Maria Eagle: The available information is contained in the following tables.
	Figures for 2008 will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Number of persons given custodial sentences( 1)  for possessing( 2)  or supplying( 3)  illegal drugs,1997-2007 
			   Supply  Possession 
			 1997 5,699 1,005 
			 1998 5,914 1,505 
			 1999 5,899 1,665 
			 2000 5,484 1,529 
			 2001 5,378 1,548 
			 2002 5,322 1,361 
			 2003 5,666 1,315 
			 2004 5,838 1,093 
			 2005 5,719 1,174 
			 2006 6,341 1,526 
			 2007 7,054 1,827 
			 (1) These figures include fully suspended and suspended sentences (Suspended sentence order introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 came into force on 4 April 2005 and replaced the previous fully suspended sentence.) (2) Offence of having possession of a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 s.5(2). (3) Offence of having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply and offence of supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971s.4(3).  Notes: 1. The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 3. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  N umber of persons found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the possession and supply of illegal drugs in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2007( 1,2,3) 
			   Possession  Supply 
			 1997 27,576 9,065 
			 1998 35,782 9,368 
			 1999 36,616 8,786 
			 2000 33,844 7,948 
			 2001 34,958 7,619 
			 2002 38,134 7,752 
			 2003 39,633 8,295 
			 2004 27,801 8,506 
			 2005 27,319 8,804 
			 2006 28,040 8,561 
			 2007 31,722 9,006 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source: OCJR—E & A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what local authority electoral registration departments  (a) use and  (b) do not use cross-referencing of other local authority databases to assist in increasing levels of electoral registration.

Michael Wills: The Electoral Commission has issued guidance to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) encouraging them to use their powers to inspect records. The guidance also contains advice on the records that may be inspected. In addition, the Commission published a final set of performance standards for EROs in Great Britain in July 2008. These standards required EROs to provide information on their use of databases available to them. The Commission published the results of EROs' self-assessments against the performance standards in April 2009.
	Performance Standard No. 1: 'Using information sources to verify entries on the register of electors and identify potential new electors', aims to ensure that EROs use the appropriate sources of information to verify records on the existing register of electors and identify potential new electors who come into the authority area. To meet the standard EROs are required to proactively identify and use the records they are entitled to inspect, throughout the year, to verify and validate data held on the electoral register.
	The Commission's analysis of the returns for this standard shows that over half of EROs across Great Britain assessed themselves as above the performance standard, with 40 per cent. meeting the standard and a small minority (18 EROs) below the standard.
	We will be discussing with the Commission how the performance standards programme can be developed.

National Offender Management Service

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to ensure that there is no duplication in the workload of National Offender Management Service regional directors and HM Prison Service area managers; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: One of the key objectives of NOMS is to protect the public and reduce re-offending. The new regional directors of offender management (DOM) will be accountable for this objective by achieving effective integration of the work of all agencies across the region. Each will lead by developing relationships and creating and implementing a strategic vision focused on outcomes. Optimising the integration of the prison and probation services at local and regional levels will be a key part of their role to protect the public, reduce re-offending and improve performance.
	Following a comprehensive review and restructure of the regional organisation, the role of Area Manager no longer exists. Instead, each DOM will be supported by a team of regional managers, each with a specific portfolio of work, in line with overall strategy, reporting to the DOM.
	The demarcation lines between the strategic role of the DOM and the more delivery focused roles of their senior management Team will remove the opportunity for duplication.

Prison Service: Management

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will commission a review of the effectiveness of management at HM Prison Service headquarters; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The effectiveness of management at NOMS headquarters is under constant review through the use of Key Performance Targets and either the Senior Civil Service or NOMS performance management system. The agency also has a management and leadership development framework in place to assess and develop managers' behavioural competence and effectiveness. I do not believe there is a need to commission a separate review.

Prisoners Release

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released in each month since the inception of the end of custody licence scheme, broken down by category of offence.

Jack Straw: Information on the number of prisoners released under the end of custody licence (ECL) scheme each month and by offence group can be found in the following tables.
	The figures presented in the answer are published monthly and available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/endofcustodylicence.htm
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  Monthly ECL releases by offence group 
			   Violence against the person ( 1)  Sexual offences ( 2)  Robbery  Burglary  Theft and handling 
			 29 June-5 July 2007 344 0 24 149 404 
			 6-31 July 2007 359 2 54 210 475 
			 August 2007 439 0 48 247 582 
			 September 2007 402 0 50 205 486 
			 October 2007 495 2 50 241 575 
			 November 2007 494 0 54 222 594 
			 December 2007 467 0 69 225 566 
			 January 2008 484 1 60 231 512 
			 February 2008 467 2 53 186 574 
			 March 2008 536 1 61 218 623 
			 April 2008 509 0 75 258 573 
			 May 2008 472 0 70 217 599 
			 June 2008 507 0 71 268 616 
			 July 2008 532 0 60 229 619 
			 August 2008 524 1 61 218 545 
			 September 2008 569 0 82 246 616 
			 October 2008 541 0 78 223 637 
			 November 2008 506 0 61 242 555 
			 December 2008 569 0 60 258 647 
			 January 2009 461 0 70 234 515 
			 February 2009 425 0 51 229 519 
			 March 2009 554 0 61 274 582 
		
	
	
		
			   Fraud and forgery  Drug offences  Motoring offences  Other offences  Offence not recorded  All offences 
			 29 June-5 July 2007 37 65 219 427 32 1,701 
			 6-31 July 2007 42 92 258 602 37 2,131 
			 August 2007 44 95 328 666 44 2,493 
			 September 2007 44 103 288 567 50 2,195 
			 October 2007 29 122 323 735 40 2,612 
			 November 2007 56 114 331 705 40 2,610 
			 December 2007 39 100 285 660 44 2,455 
			 January 2008 38 99 287 637 37 2,386 
			 February 2008 57 105 279 692 43 2,458 
			 March 2008 60 102 332 691 51 2,675 
			 April 2008 52 116 305 705 38 2,631 
			 May 2008 53 105 294 691 31 2,532 
			 June 2008 54 117 257 724 56 2,670 
			 July 2008 68 120 274 676 48 2,626 
			 August 2008 62 113 275 648 39 2,486 
			 September 2008 57 112 272 745 46 2,745 
			 October 2008 59 103 324 775 35 2,775 
			 November 2008 38 113 283 701 40 2,539 
			 December 2008 58 117 291 746 49 2,795 
			 January 2009 42 110 246 572 42 2,292 
			 February 2009 46 104 215 681 40 2,310 
			 March 2009 57 128 268 776 49 2,749 
			 (1) Excludes serious violent offences such as murder, manslaughter, wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, child cruelty and serious explosives offences. A full list of exclusions can be found in Prison Service Instruction 42/2007 (which consolidates and replaces PSI 27/2007). (2) Prisoners subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 1997/Sexual Offences Act 2003 are excluded from release on ECL. Not all offences of a sexual nature are subject to the notification requirements; such prisoners are therefore eligible for release on ECL.

Prisons: Public Consultation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the statement of 27 April 2009, on prisons and probation, when he plans to begin consultations on the proposed prison site at Curborough; when he expects to publish the exact location of the proposed site; when he expects to announce his decision on whether to site a prison at Curborough; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: As I announced on 27 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 569-80, we will not be proceeding with the 2,500 place 'Titan' prisons, but we will be building 1,500 place prisons instead. There are no current plans for prisons on any of the sites listed other than those named by me in Parliament on 27 April.
	The site at Curborough was one of a number of sites brought to the attention of the National Offender Management Service as part of the site search exercise for 'Titan' prisons to hold 2,500 prisoners. It was assessed, but not considered suitable for development as a Titan.

Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of special education needs tribunals in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal) (SEND) does not hold the information in a readily available format. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Tribunals Service does, however, hold data on the total annual running costs for the last five years (including departmental overheads, except 2005-06), as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 6.476 
			 2004-05 6.376 
			 2005-06(1) 5.136 
			 2006-07 6.558 
			 2007-08 5.633 
			 (1) Department for Education and Skills (DFES) overheads are not disclosed in the annual report 
		
	
	The figures prior to 2006-07 can be found at appendix. 1 of each of the annual reports produced by the Department for Education and Skills and published on the SEND website:
	www.sendist.gov.uk
	The 2006-07 and 2007-08 figures are taken from the audited accounts of the Tribunals Service.

Television: Licensing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people per 10,000 of the population in Northern Ireland were prosecuted for non-payment of the television licence fee in each of the last three years.

Bridget Prentice: Information is not available for 2006 as centrally collated data only became available with the implementation of a new IT system.
	In 2007, 5,901 people were prosecuted, representing a rate of 40 per 10,000 of the population, 4,466 were convicted and 1,435 cases were withdrawn or dismissed. In 2008 5,272 people were prosecuted representing a rate of 30 per 10,000 of the population, 4,123 were convicted, and 1,149 cases were dismissed or withdrawn.
	The information for 2008 is provisional.

Trade Unions

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which trade unions are recognised by each of his Department's executive agencies.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice recognises the Public and Commercial Services Union and the FDA across the whole of the organisation including its executive agencies.
	Prospect are recognised within Her Majesty's Court Service.
	HMPS recognise the following trade unions: The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA) and The Prison Governors Association (PGA).
	The following work together with the National Offender Management Service under the title National Offender Management Service Trade Unions (NOMSTUS): Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Prospect, FDA and Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
	The following work together with HM Prison Service under the title of Prison Service Joint Industrial Council (PSJIC): Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), GMB, AMICUS, UCATT.

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to bring into effect the debt management scheme provisions of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.

Bridget Prentice: The Government are committed to supporting consumers in unexpected difficulties and are considering measures for providing real and timely assistance to those encountering debt problems. As part of this, we are currently reviewing the implementation of part 5 of the Act. It is expected that an announcement will be made on this shortly.

Victim Support Schemes: Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding his Department has made available for victim support services in 2009-10.

Maria Eagle: Victim Support has been granted £30 million core funding for 2009-10 from the Ministry of Justice.
	In addition Victim Support has been allocated £6.2 million in 2009-10 to finance Victim Support Plus.

Wandsworth Prison: Inspections

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons a scheduled inspection by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons of HM Prison Wandsworth did not take place in 2008; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: No inspection of HM Prison Wandsworth by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons was scheduled in 2008. The Chief Inspector carried out a full announced inspection of HMP Wandsworth in May 2004 with an unannounced follow up to that inspection in June 2006. The next scheduled inspection will be in June this year.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

62 South Eaton Place

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department owns the property at 62 South Eaton Place, London for the purposes of the Land Registry.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	My Department holds this property by way of a leasehold interest although as is normal legal title is vested in the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as the property forms part of the Government's civil estate.

Angling: Planning Permission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 17 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1096W, on angling, if she will ensure that the review of planning application fees takes into account the effect on the construction of fishing lakes by commercial enterprises of changes in the levels of  (a) planning fees and  (b) mineral extraction charges.

Iain Wright: The Government are currently conducting a review of planning application fees and as part of that review, we are assessing the effect of recent increases on the construction of fishing lakes.

Audit Commission: Public Relations

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 12 March 2009,  Official Report, column 752W, on publicity, what projects were undertaken by each of the public relations companies hired by the Audit Commission; and for what reason the Commission did not use its own staff in each case.

Sadiq Khan: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to respond to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 6 May 2009:
	Your Parliamentary question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	Geronimo Communications—£45,600
	The Audit Commission contracted with Geronimo, an advertising and communications company, to supply an interim Director of Communications to cover the gap between the resignation of Jenny Grey, who left the Audit Commission to become Director of Communications at the Cabinet Office, and the appointment of a successor. The payment covered the services of a senior executive with board level experience, Marina Pirotta, from June to October 2008. Ms Pirotta brought experience and knowledge that was, by definition, not available within the commission.
	Consolidated Communications—£137,700
	The Audit Commission contracted with Consolidated Communications, a communications and public relations company, in 2006 and 2007 during a period of substantial reorganisation of its publishing and media relations. Consolidated offered advice and support, replacing functions that, temporarily, were not available in house.
	Fishburn Hedges—£141,900
	In order to set up Comprehensive Area Assessment, the Audit Commission is creating, in collaboration with other inspectorates, new ways of reaching out to the general public, and providing them with information about how their areas are fairing. Graphics and branding specialists from Fishburn Hedges were appointed in autumn 2008 to carry out research and graphical development. The Audit Commission did not have these skills in house.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Community Development: Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many community projects formerly funded by her Department have had their funding from her Department discontinued in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many community projects funded by her Department have started in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: The Department provides funding to local authorities and national or regional third sector organisations for a range of projects and initiatives designed to support communities. However most community projects are funded locally and so information about the total number of projects started in the last 12 months or those which are no longer funded is not held centrally.

Community Relations

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many groups receiving funding from local authorities in support of work to prevent violent extremism use subcontractors; what measures are in place to monitor the work of such subcontractors; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: As the hon. Member will know, funding in support of the preventing violent extremism agenda is provided through Area Based Grant to local authorities. Area Based Grant is a mechanism for providing non-ring fenced funding to local authorities to enable them to deliver their area priorities. Local authorities are responsible for monitoring the use and performance of subcontractors and have their own mechanisms in place for doing so.

Community Relations: Religion

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 4 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 1644-5W, on community relations: religion, which organisations each of the regional faith forums has funded to date.

Sadiq Khan: Funding is provided to the forums by Communities and Local Government for them to take forward the regional strand of the inter faith framework, "Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side". The regional faith forums are not grant making bodies. However we are aware that in some circumstances they may fund third party organisations to support the wider regional implementation of the inter faith framework. We do not routinely collect this information but believe this to amount to no more than £10,000.00 nationally during 2008-09.

Conveyancing: Fees and Charges

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information her Department holds on  (a) the property search fees levied by each local authority and  (b) variance between local authorities in property search fees.

Margaret Beckett: The Department holds information on those local authorities who made available information on the fees charged for local inquiries (CON29) search of 1 April 2007, which showed that the average fee charged for a CON29 search was £114 and ranged from £28 to £244. We are currently collecting data on the fees charged by local authorities as of 1 April 2009 following the implementation of the Local Authorities (England)(Charges for Property Searches) Regulations 2008.

Council Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing units were held by  (a) local authorities and  (b) registered social landlords in each region in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: The following table shows the total number of dwellings owned by local authorities and registered social landlords in each region in each year from 1997.
	
		
			  Thousands of dwellings 
			   North East  North West  Yorkshire & Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East  London  South East  South West 
			  Rented from local authorities
			 1997 298 523 441 293 410 302 621 288 224 
			 1998 292 509 434 289 402 295 596 278 214 
			 1999 286 485 427 280 381 290 575 268 184 
			 2000 276 445 419 265 354 277 553 252 170 
			 2001 233 416 397 257 316 273 530 235 156 
			 2002 227 405 386 242 301 251 516 226 153 
			 2003 207 326 344 226 257 231 500 221 146 
			 2004 190 308 326 218 238 226 483 206 140 
			 2005 170 267 273 214 232 206 468 199 136 
			 2006 163 241 265 211 222 196 457 202 129 
			 2007 154 207 248 209 218 188 451 193 120 
			   
			  Rented from Registered Social Landlords   
			 1997 47 153 66 48 101 97 204 186 84 
			 1998 48 159 69 50 114 100 219 196 85 
			 1999 49 178 73 58 126 105 239 205 114 
			 2000 53 212 75 69 150 114 250 217 133 
			 2001 90 225 89 74 179 117 271 234 146 
			 2002 89 237 92 84 187 132 279 243 148 
			 2003 99 300 118 94 216 142 287 246 150 
			 2004 106 299 121 94 221 153 291 258 158 
			 2005 116 322 161 94 220 171 296 261 161 
			 2006 114 337 162 94 225 181 300 262 167 
			 2007 118 355 174 92 222 188 295 269 173 
			  Sources:  1. Census 2001;  2. Housing Flows Reconciliation and joint returns by local authorities;  3. Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) submitted to Communities and Local Government by local authorities;  4. Regulatory Statistical Return (RSR) as reported to the Housing Corporation by registered social landlords

Council Tax

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each local authority area in  (a) Wales and  (b) England have been prosecuted for non-payment of council tax in each year since 1999.

John Healey: The administration of council tax is a matter for individual local authorities and data on prosecutions for non-payment in England are not collected centrally. Council tax policy in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.

Councillors

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 17 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1101W, on councillors: Arun, whether the Audit Commission plans to require local authorities to disclose the bank account details of councillors held in their payroll databases as part of the National Fraud Initiative exercise for 2010-11.

Sadiq Khan: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, 6 May 2009:
	Your Parliamentary question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	The 2010/11 National Fraud Initiative will collect data from local authorities beginning in October 2010. All local authorities are required to submit payroll data for all of their employees and councillors and the data fields submitted will include bank account numbers and sort codes. This information is used to detect undeclared bank accounts in circumstances where for example a benefit claimant has failed to declare income, but the actual account details are not disclosed. Data matches merely indicate whether two bank accounts are the same or different and neither the sort code or the account number is reproduced.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent by her Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1104W.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of her Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the regulations came into force; and if she will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government occupies one building, Eland House, which has an air conditioning system with an output greater than 250 kW, where the Department has responsibility for inspecting and controlling the equipment in line with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007. The Department holds a current inspection report for this system and a copy of the document will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Assets

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department last reviewed its assets and land and property holdings with a view to identifying and disposing of surpluses.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the Department for Communities and Local Government's Property Asset Management Plan published in March 2009, which sets out an overarching five year vision for corporate property assets and property services across the Department's group, comprising our central headquarters, the Government office network and all our other arm's length bodies (ALBs). The plan is formally reviewed annually and is available on the CLG website:
	www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/assetmanagementplan
	I also refer the hon. Member to the Operational Efficiency Programme final report:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/oep_final_report_210409_pu728.pdf
	which identifies the further work to be undertaken on the QEII Conference Centre.

Departmental Consultants

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much  (a) her Department and  (b) its executive agencies spent on consultancy contracts in 2008-09.

Sadiq Khan: This information will be available in the Department's annual report which will be published in June.

Departmental Furniture

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 313W, on departmental furniture, how many chairs were ordered from Herman Miller in 2007-08; and what the model and cost of each was, including value added tax.

Sadiq Khan: Pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 313W, on departmental furniture, the number, model and cost of the chairs, including VAT, ordered from Herman Miller by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2007-08 are detailed as follows.
	
		
			  Model  Quantity  Unit cost( 1 ) (£) 
			 Vista (visavis) 148 267.80 
			 Dean 16 381 
			 Hay 6 424 
			 (1) Inclusive of VAT

Departmental ICT

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the  (a) energy consumed by,  (b) energy cost of and  (c) carbon dioxide emissions from each category of IT device in each division of her Department in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the average server capacity utilisation by each division of her Department was in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how many  (a) printers and  (b) multi-function devices with printing functions were in use in each division of her Department in each of the last five years; how many such devices had a function enabling two-sided printing; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  how many and what proportion of IT products in each category procured for each division of her Department were compliant with the Government's Buy Sustainable-Quick Win standard in the latest year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: Communities and Local Government (CLG), in line with the approach adopted by the cross-Government Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council, has produced a 'CIO Green ICT Roadmap' which my Department will be following to deliver against the 18 target improvement areas outlined in the Greening Government ICT Strategy.
	The Greening Government ICT strategy has been established to:
	make energy consumption of our ICT systems carbon neutral by 2012, and
	make them carbon neutral across their lifetime (including manufacture and disposal) by 2020.
	CLG is in the process of introducing the basic Quick Wins steps into our procurement strategies and this will assist our procurement officers moving forward.
	A full Report of the CIO Council Green ICT Roadmaps is scheduled to be made available by the Cabinet Office in May featuring the action plans of all Departments (including CLG) involved in this initiative.
	CLG operates a large-scale, multi-vendor supply chain delivering a wide range of ICT categories. Obtaining the level of specific detail requested in these PQs would be likely to have significant cost implications and involve removing key staff from urgent delivery programmes.

Departmental Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on maintaining its website in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: We do not hold the information in the format required. The Department pays for its intranet, corporate site and info4local on the same contracts and is not able to break this cost down further. Across all three websites we paid £446,124 in 2008-09 for annual hosting charges, licensing, application support and maintenance and development.

Eco-Towns: Marston Vale

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers for her Department on the Marston Vale eco-town proposal.

Margaret Beckett: The promoters of Marston Vale eco-town withdrew their proposals in early February 2009 and are no longer part of the Eco-towns Programme. Therefore they were not included in the Financial Viability Study of the Eco-towns Programme which we published on 5 March 2009.

Eco-Towns: Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisations have responded to the Government's consultation on the draft planning policy statement on eco-towns.

Margaret Beckett: The consultation on the eco-towns programme, including the draft Planning Policy Statement closed on 30 April 2009. Following our review of the consultation responses we will publish a Government response together with consultation summary report of responses received, including a list of organisations that responded to the consultation.

Empty Property: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the new houses completed in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point constituency between 2003 and 2008 were vacant in October 2008.

Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally.
	The Council Tax Base and Council Tax-Base supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) return, reported by local authorities to CLG, includes the total number of long term and short term vacancies in a local authority area.
	The following table gives the total number of vacant dwellings in Castle Point district authority and Essex at 6 October 2008, the latest date for which figures are available.
	
		
			  County/local authority  Number of long term empty dwellings (empty for more than six months)  Total number of empty dwellings 
			 Essex 6,223 18,365 
			 Castle Point 311 877 
			  Source:  Council Taxbase and Council Taxbase Supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) returns from local authorities. 
		
	
	Those dwellings vacant for less than six months are more likely to be empty for a short period following a sale before the new owner occupies it, where the property needs work to be carried out before it can be occupied, or where the property is in probate and are seen as 'transactional' vacant dwellings and are thus a characteristic of the housing market.
	It is therefore sometimes more appropriate to look at long term vacancies rather than the total number of vacant dwellings.

European Union

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions she has visited Brussels on official business in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has been to Brussels once on official business in the last 12 months.

Fire Services

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) original estimated and  (b) current estimated (i) cost and (ii) completion date is of the (A) Durham, (B) Warrington, (C) Wakefield, (D) Castle Donington, (E) Wolverhampton, (F) Cambridge, (G) Taunton, (H) Fareham and (I) Morden regional control centre of the FiReControl project; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: There was no capital outlay for the buildings as the Department procured them through a private developer scheme. The lease cost was established through the procurement. The risk of construction costs rested with the developer. The FiReControl Business Case Part 2, published in November 2008, available in the House Library outlines lease costs.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 27 January 2009,  Official Report, column 346W, which outlines the practical completion date for each region.

Fire Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire engines have  (a) entered and  (b) left service in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: The number of fire engines which have entered and left service in the last 12 months is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fire Services: Closures

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire stations have closed in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: This information is reported in annual returns to the Department, and the latest data show that one fire station closed in England in 2007-08.

Fire Services: Death

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters have died in the last 12 months as a result of injuries sustained in the course of their duties.

Sadiq Khan: No firefighters died as a result of injuries sustained in the course of duty in 2008-09.

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 316W, on fire services: industrial disputes, whether  (a) her Department and  (b) the Government Offices for the Regions hold copies of the contingency plans of fire and rescue authorities in the event of industrial action in the fire service.

Sadiq Khan: We do not hold copies of the contingency plans prepared by fire and rescue authorities in relation to industrial action.

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place for the provision of fire cover in the event of national industrial action by firefighters.

Sadiq Khan: The provision of fire cover within a fire and rescue authority in the event of industrial action is the responsibility of that fire and rescue authority, whether the dispute is local or national in extent.

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether firefighters from other fire and rescue authorities will be asked to cross picket lines to provide emergency fire cover in the event of localised industrial action in a fire and rescue authority.

Sadiq Khan: The question of whether firefighters from another fire and rescue authority would be asked to cross any particular picket line would be a matter for the respective fire and rescue authorities.

Fire Services: Influenza

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment the London Regional Resilience Forum has made of the effect of an influenza pandemic on the operation of a fire and rescue service in London.

Sadiq Khan: The London Regional Resilience Forum is responsible for strategic, multi-agency planning and for ensuring that London as a whole is fully prepared to deal with the consequences of an influenza pandemic on public health and the continuity of essential services in London. It is the statutory responsibility of individual Category 1 responders themselves, including the London fire brigade, to ensure that they are prepared and have business continuity processes in place to manage the effects of an influenza pandemic.

Fire Services: Labour Turnover

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters have  (a) entered and  (b) left the fire and rescue service in the last 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: The latest data available on the number of firefighters entering and leaving the fire and rescue service are for 2007-08 and are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Firefighters entering and leaving the fire and rescue service, England, 2007-08 
			   Joiners  Leavers 
			 Whole-time 1,014 1,467 
			 Retained 752 1,130 
			 Total 1,766 2,597

Fire Services: Uniforms

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on the design of new uniforms for fire and rescue services; and what public consultation it carried out on the design.

Sadiq Khan: A nationally available contract for the provision of uniforms, personal protective equipment and other clothing was awarded by Firebuy Ltd., as the national procurement body for the English fire and rescue service, to Bristol Uniforms Ltd. in 2007. The design of the new uniforms was undertaken by this supplier. Firefighers and union representatives were consulted on the design as part of the garment trials in 2006, to which Communities and Local Government contributed £190,000. The views of the general public were also considered through surveys conducted in 2007. Firebuy have subsequently participated in presentations on the new uniform to fire and rescue authorities.

Firebuy

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether papers related to the Firebuy project are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Sadiq Khan: Firebuy Ltd., as an executive non-departmental public body of Communities and Local Government, is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. It has produced a publication scheme in accordance with the FOI Act.

Government Offices For The Regions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the Government Office Network's Places handbook.

Sadiq Khan: The Places Handbook has been developed as a tool to help Government Office (GO) staff and their partners support the delivery of Government policy. It is an online Handbook that provides quick and easy access to a range of analytical and delivery tools and techniques, as well as links to appropriate data sources. As the Places Handbook is an online facility I have been advised that it is not suitable for placing in the Library. Instead, I am providing the email link to the Places Handbook which is accessed by the public via the internet:
	http://www.gos.gov.uk/placeshandbook/

Green Belt: East Midlands

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes the East Midlands Regional Plan proposes to make to green belt designation and protection in the region.

Sadiq Khan: The East Midlands Regional Plan, published on 12 March 2009, makes no specific changes to green belt designation in the east midlands. However, the Three Cities Sub-Regional Strategy Policy 2 (Sub-Regional Priorities for Green Belt Areas) states that:
	"The principle of the Nottingham-Derby and Burton-Swadlincote green belts will be retained. However a comprehensive review of the most sustainable locations for growth within the Nottingham Core HMA and Hucknall will be required urgently to consider how to accommodate future growth requirements over at least the next 25 years. As this may include considering locations within the green belt, when implementing this review through their local development documents, local planning authorities will have regard to:
	the level of growth proposed in Regional Plan Policy 13a and in Three Cities SRS Policy 3 identifying the locations for future development;
	sustainable development principles;
	the principles and purposes of including land in Green Belt set out in PPG2; and
	where changes to the Green Belt are proposed, the retention of existing, or creation of new, defensible boundaries based on natural features or other barriers such as major roads.
	This review will need to be done as part of the evidence base underpinning the next RSS review."

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budget for administrative costs of the Homes and Communities Agency is in each of the next three years.

Margaret Beckett: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) inherited running costs budgets of £86 million per annum from its predecessor bodies. Obviously with the publication of the Operational Efficiency Programme on 21 April, my Department in conjunction with its arms length bodies, is currently reviewing the scope for making further operational efficiency savings in the current spending period. Budgets for 2011-12 fall in the next spending period and decisions have yet to be made.

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1111-12W, on Homes and Communities Agency: finance, how much each local authority will receive from the £50 million to enable local authorities to deliver new social housing; and how many homes she expects to be delivered through that funding.

Margaret Beckett: The allocation of grant funding is dependent on the bids submitted by local authorities. Likewise the number of homes delivered will depend on the details of the bids submitted, for example whether they are flats or houses.

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Homes and Communities Agency spent on producing its Affordable Housing Survey publication; and how many copies were produced.

Margaret Beckett: The Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor body, the Housing Corporation, spent £160,000 on producing its Affordable Housing Survey. There were no hard copies produced of the report; it is freely and publicly available on the Homes and Communities website at:
	www.homesandcommunities.co.uk

Housing Benefit

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of  (a) registered social landlords and  (b) local authority tenants were in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: Estimates of the proportions of registered social landlord and local authority tenants in receipt of housing benefit from 2002-03 to 2006-07 are provided in the following table. These estimates are based on data from the Survey of English Housing.
	
		
			  Social sector households in receipt of housing benefit, England, 2002-03 to 2006-07 
			   Tenure  
			   Local authority  Registered social landlord( 1)  All social renters  (percentage)  Total number of social renters  (Thousand) 
			 2002-03 64 60 62 2,483 
			 2003-04 64 59 62 2,428 
			 2004-05 62 61 61 2,366 
			 2005-06 62 60 61 2,357 
			 2006-07 63 63 63 2,489 
			 (1) Sometimes referred to as Housing Associations.  Source:  Communities and Local Government, Survey of English Housing 
		
	
	Survey based estimates of the separate numbers of local authority and registered social landlord tenants are not considered robust as a significant number of registered social landlord tenants wrongly report that they are local authority tenants, typically when ownership has transferred due to a large-scale voluntary transfer.

Housing Market

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the written ministerial statement of 8 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on home buying and selling, who the members of the working group on home condition reports are; and what declaration of political activity each has made.

Margaret Beckett: The membership and terms of reference of the "Working Group on Condition Information in the Home Buying and Selling Process" are available on the CLG website at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/homeconditionworkinggroup
	There is no requirement on the members of the working group to declare political activity.

Housing: Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £600 million announced for housing in the Budget 2009 is additional to that announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Iain Wright: All of it.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) local authorities and  (b) housing associations are participating in the Social HomeBuy scheme; and how many properties were sold by each participating organisation in each of the last three years.

Margaret Beckett: A table has been deposited in the Library showing how many  (a) local authorities and  (b) housing associations are currently taking part in the Social HomeBuy scheme; and number of sales by each participating organisation per year from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 886-7W, on housing: low incomes, what budget has been established for the  (a) the National Affordable Housing Programme,  (b) Decent Homes,  (c) the Community Infrastructure Fund,  (d) support for the Department for Work and Pensions programme of Support for Mortgage Interest and  (e) other housing and regeneration programmes in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11.

Sadiq Khan: The following table includes capital budgets for each of the listed areas in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11:
	
		
			  Programme 
			  to nearest £ million( 1) 
			   2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 National Affordable Housing programme 2,629 3,471 2,299 
			 Decent Homes 1,291 1,278 848 
			 Community Infrastructure Fund 37 123 160 
			 Support for Mortgage Interest (DWP programme) 0 40 55 
			 Other housing and regeneration programmes (Growth Areas and Thames Gateway, Regional Housing Pot, Housing Market Renewal and the Homes and Communities Agency's Property and Regeneration programme) 1,272 1,462 1,243 
			 (1) Figures are provisional and may be subject to amendment through the financial year 
		
	
	In addition, £108/£152/£147 million resource (near cash) has been made available for other housing and regeneration programmes. These figures do not include additional funding to support the housing market announced in the Budget on 22 April 2009:
	
		
			  Programme 
			  to nearest £ million 
			   2009-10  2010-11  Total 
			 Stalled sites fund 320 80 400 
			 Local authority house building 30 70 100 
			 Housing energy efficiency 75 30 105

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of implications for her Department's policy on affordable housing of the findings of the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Survey; and whether she plans to take steps in response to its recommendations.

Margaret Beckett: The purpose of this Affordable Housing Survey was to establish an understanding of the quality of schemes delivered prior to the introduction of new quality standards by the then Housing Corporation in April 2007, to enable the impact of introducing the new standards to be evaluated in the future.
	We have already taken action and have put in place policies and legislation to make sure that poorly designed housing is not repeated. Through the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 and the Planning Act 2008, we are ensuring that design quality is a key consideration for local authorities and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The emphasis must now be on more effective implementation. We expect future surveys to show increasing improvement as the policies bed down and reflect the new HCA standards.
	The challenge going forward is to apply these new standards and policies across the board and the HCA and local authorities will play a lead role in making that happen.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what percentage of HomeBuy applicants have registered an interest in  (a) the First-time Buyers Initiative,  (b) HomeBuy Direct,  (c) Rent to HomeBuy,  (d) MyChoice HomeBuy,  (e) Open Market HomeBuy and  (f) OwnHome;
	(2)  what the average period between an applicant first making an application and a decision being taken on that application has been for the  (a) HomeBuy Direct,  (b) OwnHome,  (c) OpenMarket HomeBuy,  (d) the First-time Buyers Initiative,  (e) MyChoice HomeBuy,  (f) New Build HomeBuy,  (g) Social HomeBuy and  (h) Rent to HomeBuy scheme in each of the last three years;
	(3)  what targets have been set for HomeBuy agents to process applications; and what steps are in place to ensure that agents process applications within an acceptable time;
	(4)  what percentage of people registering for HomeBuy to date have expressed an interest in New Build HomeBuy.

Margaret Beckett: The data sought on expression of interest and applications are not held centrally.
	Under the terms of their contract with the Homes and Communities Agency, HomeBuy Agents who administer the HomeBuy scheme and the First-time Buyers Initiative are required to send applicants confirmation of their eligibility status within eight working days of receipt of a fully completed application form.
	HomeBuy agents are required to provide a monthly self-assessment of compliance against Key Performance Standards, which are monitored by, and discussed with, the Homes and Communities Agency at regular contract review meetings.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of  (a) affordable housing and  (b) homes for social rent built in each of the last five years had (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four or more bedrooms.

Iain Wright: A table will be placed in the Library of the House which shows the percentage of social rented and affordable homes delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Programme by the number of bedrooms. These figures are only available from the Homes and Communities Agency's Investment Management System, so will not cover the total number of new build social rent and affordable homes.
	Not all affordable housing is provided through new build completions, supply can also come from the acquisition and refurbishment of private sector homes. In 2007-08, a total of 53,730 additional affordable homes, of which 29,370 were for social rent homes, were provided.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of  (a) affordable housing and  (b) homes for social rent built in each of the last five years were (i) apartments and (ii) houses.

Iain Wright: A table will be placed in the Library of the House which shows the percentage of social rented and affordable homes delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Programme by apartments and houses. These figures are only available from the Homes and Communities Agency's Investment Management System so will not cover the total number of new build social rent and affordable homes.
	Not all affordable housing is provided through new build completions, supply can also come from the acquisition and refurbishment of private sector homes. In 2007-08, a total of 53,730 additional affordable homes, of which 29,370 were for social rent homes, were provided.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of her Department's expenditure on  (a) OwnHome,  (b) New Build HomeBuy,  (c) HomeBuy Direct,  (d) Rent to HomeBuy,  (e) Social HomeBuy,  (f) the First-Time Buyers Initiative,  (g) Open Market HomeBuy and  (h) MyChoice HomeBuy in each of the next three years; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what costs her Department has incurred in the administration of  (a) OwnHome,  (b) New Build HomeBuy,  (c) HomeBuy Direct,  (d) Rent to Buy HomeBuy,  (e) Social HomeBuy,  (f) the First-time Buyers Initiative,  (g) Open Market HomeBuy and  (h) MyChoice HomeBuy on the latest date for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what her Department's total expenditure was on  (a) OwnHome,  (b) New Build HomeBuy,  (c) HomeBuy Direct,  (d) Rent to HomeBuy,  (e) Social HomeBuy,  (f) the First-time Buyers Initiative, (g) Open Market HomeBuy and  (h) MyChoice HomeBuy to date.

Margaret Beckett: The Homes and Communities Agency expenditure to the end of 2008-09 on  (a) OwnHome,  (b) New Build HomeBuy,  (c) HomeBuy Direct,  (d) Rent to HomeBuy,  (e) Social HomeBuy,  (f) First-time Buyers Initiative,  (g) Open Market HomeBuy and  (h) MyChoice HomeBuy is as follows:
	
		
			£ million 
			  (a) OwnHome 22 
			  (b) New Build HomeBuy 639 
			  (c) HomeBuy Direct 0 
			  (d) Rent to HomeBuy 88 
			  (e) Social HomeBuy 3 
			  (f) First-time Buyers Initiative 213 
			  (g) Open Market HomeBuy(1) 350 
			  (h) My Choice HomeBuy 115 
			 (1) Includes OwnHome and My Choice HomeBuy 
		
	
	On expenditure on Social HomeBuy in the local authority sector I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1693-694W.
	£400 million has been made available for the HomeBuy Direct scheme. In addition, a proportion of the £400 million announced in the Budget to unlock stalled housing developments will also be spent through HomeBuy Direct. Scheme funding is currently available up to the end of 2010-11. The precise level of spend will depend on take-up.
	Expenditure on the First-time Buyers Initiative is forecast to be around £13 million in 2009-10, with no further expenditure in future years.
	We have not allocated specific funds in 2009-10 and 2010-11 for the other categories listed to allow full flexibility within the National Affordable Housing Programme operated by the Homes and Communities Agency.
	Future estimated levels of expenditure beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the next spending review.
	The administration costs incurred by Communities and Local Government for the HomeBuy programme and the First-time Buyers' initiative form part of the overall cost for the policy and delivery of affordable housing.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much initial equity homebuyers on average have purchased through the New Build HomeBuy scheme to date.

Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the average value and percentage of equity for properties purchased under New Build HomeBuy schemes in England since 2006-07, when the New Build HomeBuy scheme started.
	
		
			  New Build HomeBuy 
			   Average value of equity (£)  Average percentage of equity 
			 2006-07 77,290 48 
			 2007-08 77,620 45 
			  Source: CORE (Continuous Recording) returns from Registered Social Landlords to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average amount of assistance provided to a home purchaser under the New Build HomeBuy scheme has been to date.

Margaret Beckett: The assistance provided under New Build HomeBuy is in the form of grant for the provision of the property which enables the property to be sold in stages on shared ownership terms. The national average amount of grant per unit provided through the Homes and Communities Affordable Housing Programme for new Build HomeBuy to date is £28,374.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1117W, on housing: low incomes, which local authorities offer cash incentive schemes to assist their tenants in purchasing houses;
	(2)  how many houses have been sold via local authority cash incentive schemes in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: As reported by local authorities through the 2007-08 Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix, the following local authorities in England provided cash incentive scheme grants, under section 129 of the Housing Act 1988, to assist tenants to acquire an interest in a new home in 2007-08:
	Barnet
	Bournemouth UA
	Camden
	Carrick
	Chesterfield
	Croydon
	Dartford
	Ealing
	Enfield
	Hackney
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Harrow
	Hillingdon
	Ipswich
	Kingston upon Thames
	Lambeth
	Lewisham
	Mid Devon
	North Cornwall
	North Hertfordshire
	Norwich
	Purbeck
	Redbridge
	Redditch
	Selby
	South Cambridgeshire
	St. Albans
	Tendring
	Three Rivers
	Tower Hamlets
	Wandsworth
	Warwick
	Watford
	West Somerset
	Westminster
	Woking
	Wycombe
	The figures supplied count only the number of local authorities giving cash incentive scheme grants under section 129 of the Housing Act 1988, and they also do not include any local authorities offering cash incentive scheme grants under these provisions where none were taken up in the year.
	The Department does not collect data on the number of properties purchased with the assistance of cash incentive scheme grants, but for the number of cash incentive scheme grants made in each year since 1997 in England under section 129 of the Housing Act 1988, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 554-56W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck).

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the remit of her Department's Lean Six Sigma for local government initiative is.

Sadiq Khan: Six Sigma, or any other business transformation technique, is not specifically recommended for use in local government by the Department. The National Process Improvement Project (NPIP), funded by the department and run by London borough of Lewisham, asked pilot local authorities to examine the application of a variety of service transformation tools and techniques to different service areas, and created best practice guidance to their use based on generic principles and irrespective of specific methodology.
	This guidance forms part of the Business Improvement Package:
	www.bip.rcoe.gov.uk
	and is in the process of being fully transferred to the local government sector with regional improvement and efficiency bodies taking forward the learning on a regional basis.

Local Government Information Unit

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 318W, on the Local Government Information Unit: finance, for what project the Local Government Information Unit provided consultancy services in 2008; and whether the Unit produced a report on the project.

Sadiq Khan: Pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 318W, further investigation has found that in 2008 the Local Government Information Unit in fact provided research services rather than consultancy services for 'The Role of Councillors to inform the Commission on Local Councillors'.
	A paper was produced and assisted in informing and producing the report of the Councillors Commission, titled 'Representing the Future'. This was presented to the Secretary of State and published for wider dissemination in December 2007.

Local Government Information Unit

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 318W, on the Local Government Information Unit: finance, for what project the Local Government Information Unit provided consultancy in 2009; and what the reimbursed legal fees related to.

Sadiq Khan: In 2009 the Local Government Information Unit was paid for research work prepared earlier for the "Learning Network on the Role of Councillors in Neighbourhood Working- LGR 65/12/174" project.
	The reimbursement of legal fees related to the legal costs incurred by LGIU in consulting on extension/termination of arrangements regarding a secondment to Hazel Blears' office.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much will be provided from the Homes and Communities Agency's budget for  (a) the Repossession Prevention Fund,  (b) the Mortgage Rescue Scheme,  (c) the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme and  (d) the measures announced to increase the level of homebuilding in the 2009 Budget in each of the next three years.

Margaret Beckett: The Repossession Prevention Fund will be funded directly from my Department's budget not the Homes and Communities Agency budget.
	For the Mortgage Rescue Scheme the HCA budget for 2009-10 will include £140 million and for 2010-11 will include £95 million.
	The Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme will be funded directly from my Department's budget not the HCA budget.
	As a result of the Budget 2009 the HCA will receive an additional £450 million over the next two years (2009-10 and 2010-11) to help increase the levels of house building. This is broken down as follows:
	£400 million to unlock currently stalled developments by providing development finance, and additional funding for social and affordable housing, including help for first time buyers.
	£50 million to enable local authorities to deliver new social housing over the next two years.
	Budgets for 2011-12 are dependent on the outcome of the next spending review.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether property owners in negative equity are eligible for assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme;
	(2)  what changes to the eligibility criteria for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme she proposes to make to extend eligibility to property owners in negative equity; and whether those with no equity will be eligible for assistance under the scheme.

Margaret Beckett: In the Budget 2009 it was announced that the Mortgage Rescue Scheme criteria will be expanded to include eligible households previously excluded due to negative equity. This change will come into effect from 1 May 2009.
	All households are now able to apply for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme so long as they meet all the other eligibility criteria and the value of their mortgage (and any additional secured loans) is less than 120 per cent. of the value of their home.
	This change reflects our commitment to keep the scheme under review in order to maintain flexibility in the light of changing market conditions.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many months arrears are required for a homeowner to be eligible for assistance under  (a) the Mortgage Rescue scheme and  (b) the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme.

Margaret Beckett: Neither the Mortgage Rescue scheme nor Homeowners Mortgage Support have a requirement for households to be in arrears for a specified period in order to access the schemes.
	For the Mortgage Rescue scheme, lenders are expected to demonstrate that they have used their full range of hardship tools—including in most cases three months' forbearance—before a household applies for support.
	For Homeowners Mortgage Support, households need to have demonstrated that they have had a temporary loss of household income and to have been making regular payments (but not necessarily in full) in agreement with their lender for at least five months.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government within how many years of purchase must a home be repossessed in order for mortgage lenders to be eligible for payment under the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme.

Margaret Beckett: Homeowners Mortgage Support will enable eligible borrowers who suffer a temporary loss of income to cut their mortgage interest payments for up to two years to help them get back on track with their finances and avoid repossession. The Government will guarantee the lenders against a proportion of any loss incurred on the deferred interest payments in case the borrower defaults.
	The period in which claims can be made under the guarantee will last for four years after the borrower comes off the scheme. As a condition of participation in the scheme, lenders will need to commit to best practice in forbearance when the borrower exits the scheme, and agree reasonable and affordable repayment schedules, with the aim of keeping any subsequent repossessions to a minimum.
	A claim would be made once the property had been sold, if the equity remaining in the property was insufficient to clear the debt. The period of four years was set following discussions with stakeholders to ensure that repossession is prevented wherever possible, and is always a last resort.
	Following this period, the liability returns to the lender, since it is assumed that a household still remaining in their home for that long will be continuing to make normal payments by that time.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which banks are not participating in the Homeowner Mortgage Support scheme.

Margaret Beckett: My written ministerial statement of 21 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 5-6WS, set out those lenders signed up to the Homeowners Mortgage Support (HMS) scheme, those lenders who will offer HMS as soon as possible and those lenders offering comparable arrangements. This represents around 80 per cent. of the mortgage market.
	We will continue to work with the remaining 20 per cent. of the market including many smaller lenders, to encourage as many as possible to offer HMS or comparable arrangements for their customers in the future. A list of UK lenders is available in the "Council of Mortgage Lenders year book and directory of lenders and associated services, 2008-09" (which covers around 98 per cent. of the market).

Planning Permission

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications were made in each of the last four quarters.

Iain Wright: The number of planning applications made in each of the last four quarters for which data are available in England is tabled as follows:
	
		
			  Period  Number received ( T housand) 
			 January to March 2008 158 
			 April to June 2008 149 
			 July to September 2008 135 
			 October to December 2008 111 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government General Development Control Returns PSl/PSF

Regional Government: Mass Media

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each  (a) Government Office and  (b) regional assembly spent on media monitoring services in each of the last three years.

Sadiq Khan: Government Office costs for media monitoring services in each of the last three years is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Government office  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 North East (2)3,000 3,000 (1)— 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 16,450 12,885.05 (1)— 
			 North West 0 0 (1)— 
			 East Midlands 0 0 (1)— 
			 West Midlands 0 0 0 
			 East of England (2)6,500 3,000 (1)— 
			 South West 29,553 6,627 (2)7,097 
			 South East 0 0 0 
			 London 976.15 4,515.87 1,275.89 
			 (1 )In 2008-09 the Government Office Network contracted media monitoring services for five Government Offices at a cost of £28,793.38. (2) Plus VAT. 
		
	
	Details of any media monitoring costs for regional assemblies is not held centrally and there would be a disproportionate cost incurred in trying to obtain this information.

Repossession Orders: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many home repossessions initiated by  (a) building societies and  (b) banks there were in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: There are two independent sources of data on actual numbers of mortgage possessions: The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). However both are only available for the United Kingdom as a whole.
	The Council of Mortgage Lenders latest press release on this is on their website at:
	http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/2108
	The CML data on repossessions are no longer freely available from their website. For detailed time series information members of the public can request to subscribe to CML to obtain access to a restricted website.
	The Financial Services Authority data is available on their website at
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Regulated/Returns/IRR/statistics/
	The CML and FSA release slightly different figures. The CML data is for repossessions on first-charge mortgages only, including Buy-to-Let mortgages, as issued by their members. CML estimate that their lenders currently account for 98 per cent. of mortgage lending. The FSA data, as well as covering possessions on first-charge mortgages, covers possessions on second-charge loans by regulated firms (many second charge lenders are not regulated) but doesn't cover possessions as comprehensively on Buy-to-Let mortgages, as some of these are from unregulated firms. The overall effect of the differences is that the FSA's statistics on possessions are slightly higher.

Smoke Alarms

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to encourage the use of smoke detectors in domestic properties.

Sadiq Khan: It has been our policy for some time that smoke alarms have a vital role to play in saving lives as they provide the vital early warning of fire and therefore help people to escape. Since 1987, the Government have conducted high profile national and regional television campaigns promoting smoke alarms which have proved very successful. Ownership has increased from 9 per cent. in 1987 to the current level of 80 per cent. and we are seeking to raise it further as evidence suggests that those without alarms are often in those groups who are most at risk from fire. The Government are committed to running further smoke alarms ownership and maintenance campaigns as part of this years programme.
	Furthermore, in 2004, Communities and Local Government invested £25 million pump priming capital over four years in the Home Fire Risk Check initiative. This funding resulted in just under 2 million Home Fire Safety Checks by fire and rescue services in England, installing over 2.4 million smoke alarms. Research into the impact of the Home Fire Risk Check initiative demonstrates it was responsible for 57 per cent. of the fall in accidental dwelling fire deaths. The research also concluded that the Home Fire Risk Check grant was responsible for 13,670 fewer fires and 888 fewer non-fatal casualties. The value placed on these figures showed a total benefit of £926 million to £1,943 million to the economy.

Tenant Services Authority

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the Tenant Services Authority to launch its National Conversation; and what budget has been allocated to it.

Iain Wright: The National Conversation was launched on 19 January 2009. The budget allocated for the Conversation was £600,000.

Travelling People: South East

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1181W, on Travelling people: South East, how many responses to the South East England Regional Assembly consultation were received; and how many were returned for being discriminatory;
	(2)  from what source the South East England Regional Assembly took its legal advice on the treatment of responses to its consultation.

Iain Wright: I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1181W.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Charities

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many charities were on the Charity Commission register in each of  (a) the last 30 years and  (b) the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 6 May 2009:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on how many charities were on the Charity Commission register (a) in each of the last 30 years and (b) in each of the last 12 months.
	With regard to your question attached below are tables which set out the number of main (reporting) charities that were on the Register for each of the last 30 years, by financial year, and each of the last 12 months.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total of main (reporting) charities 
			 1978-79 101,956 
			 1979-80 105,238 
			 1980-81 109,012 
			 1981-82 112,338 
			 1982-83 115,967 
			 1983-84 119,643 
			 1984-85 123,455 
			 1985-86 127,221 
			 1986-87 131,074 
			 1987-88 135,113 
			 1988-89 138,804 
			 1989-90 142,592 
			 1990-91 145,969 
			 1991-92 142,205 
			 1992-93 138,613 
			 1993-94 147,863 
			 1994-95 153,880 
			 1995-96 157,894 
			 1996-97 156,919 
			 1997-98 159,988 
			 1998-99 162,370 
			 1999-2000 160,189 
			 2000-01 160,625 
		
	
	
		
			  Financial year  Total number of main (reporting) charities 
			 2001-02 161,715 
			 2002-03 163,355 
			 2003-04 165,412 
			 2004-05 166,675 
			 2005-06 167,321 
			 2006-07 168,855 
			 2007-08 169,386 
			 2008-09 168,500 
		
	
	
		
			  Month  Total number of main (reporting) charities 
			 April 2008 169,574 
			 May 2008 169,374 
			 June 2008 169,398 
			 July 2008 169,638 
			 August 2008 169,695 
			 September 2008 169,742 
			 October 2008 169,666 
			 November 2008 168,675 
			 December 2008 168,416 
			 January 2009 168,552 
			 February 2009 168,561 
			 March 2009 168,500 
		
	
	Main (reporting) charities are those required to prepare accounts and to send an Annual Return to the Charity Commission or, if their income is less than £10.000, inform the Commission of changes to the information we hold on the Register of Charities. The figures above exclude subsidiary and group charities as these report to the Commission through the charities listed above. As of 30 April 2009, there were 22,662 subsidiary and group charities.
	Our website provides regular updates on the key facts and figures of the Register and further explanations of terms at:
	http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/showcharity/registerofcharities/registerhomepage.aspx?&=&
	I hope this is helpful.

Charities: Bank Services

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 17 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1577W, on local government: bank services, what information  (a) the Office of the Third Sector and  (b) the Charity Commission received from (i) the Financial Services Authority, (ii) the Bank of England and (iii) HM Treasury on the level of risk associated with charities investing in Icelandic banks between October 2007 and October 2008.

Kevin Brennan: The Office of the Third Sector received no information from the Financial Services Authority, the Bank of England and HM Treasury on this issue.
	I have asked the Charity Commission to reply to the question as it refers to it.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind , dated May 2009:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on the information the Charity Commission received from (i) the Financial Services Authority, (ii) the Bank of England and (iii) HM Treasury on the level of risk associated with charities investing in Icelandic banks between October 2007 and October 2008.
	The Charity Commission received no information from these bodies on this issue.
	As the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, the role of the Charity Commission is not to provide advice to charities on specific investments but to provide advice on the general powers and duties of trustees in relation to the investment of charitable funds. As such, our guidance for charities states that the fundamental principle governing trustees' decisions about investing their charity's funds is that they must take a prudent approach, considering both the suitability for their charity of any investment and the need for diversification.
	This guidance specifically emphasises that, before making investments and when reviewing them, trustees must obtain and consider advice from a suitably qualified adviser, unless the size of the funds available for investment is so small that seeking investment advice wouldn't be cost effective.
	The Commission itself is legally prohibited from offering specific investment advice to individual charities.
	I hope this is helpful.

Civil Servants: Redundancy

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time civil servants have been made redundant in each of the last 10 years.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated May 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time civil servants have been made redundant in each of the last 10 years. (272641).
	The Office for National Statistics collects data on leavers from the Civil Service as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
	The requested data are attached at Annex A.
	
		
			  Annex A: Full-time and part-time civil servants made redundant in the last 10 years( 1,2) 
			  Permanent employees only 
			   Full-time  Part-time  Total 
			 1999(3,5) 1,590 100 1,690 
			 2000(3,5) 1,000 60 1,060 
			 2001(3,5) 1,040 40 1,080 
			 2002(3,5) 690 40 730 
			 2003(3,5) 1,450 90 1,540 
			 2004(3,5) 800 60 850 
			 2005(3,5) 360 50 410 
			 2006(3,6) 1,150 270 1,420 
			 2007(4,5) 1,600 410 2,000 
			 2008(4,7) 2,700 1,080 3,770 
			 (1) Includes civil servants who have taken 'compulsory early retirement' or 'compulsory early severance'. Excludes civil servants who are over pension age. (2) Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. (3) Data sourced from the Mandate collection (1999-2006), undertaken by Cabinet Office, which provides approximately 85 per cent. coverage of civil service Departments and Agencies. (4) Data sourced from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (2007 and 2008), undertaken by ONS, which provides 100 per cent coverage of civil service Departments and Agencies. (5) Survey reference date 1 April. (6) Survey reference date 30 September. (7) Survey reference date 31 March.  Source: Mandate data collection and Annual Civil Service Employment Survey

Death: Alcoholic Drinks

Richard Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many alcohol-related deaths there were in  (a) the East of England and  (b) Suffolk in the last 12 months.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated may 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many alcohol-related deaths there were in  (a) the East of England and  (b) Suffolk in the last 12 months. (273247)
	The table attached provides the number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause in  (a) the East of England government office region and  (b) Suffolk county, for 2007 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Table 1. Number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause of death( 1) , East of England Government Office region and Suffolk county( 2) , 2007( 3) 
			  
			   Deaths (persons) 
			  Area  2007 
			 East of England 573 
			 Suffolk 62 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in the box below. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (3) All figures are for deaths registered in 2007. 
		
	
	
		
			  Box 1. Alcohol-related causes of death—International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) 
			  Cause of death  ICD-10 code(s) 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 
			 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 
			 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy I42.6 
			 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 
			 Alcoholic liver disease K70 
			 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 
			 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excl. Biliary cirrhosis) K74 (excl. K74.3-K74.5) 
			 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 
			 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 
			 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the electoral registration rates are for each local authority, ranked from highest to lowest; and how much each such authority spent on electoral registration per elector in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated May 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what the electoral registration rates are for each local authority ranked from highest to lowest; and how much each such authority spent on electoral registration per elector in the latest period for which figures are available. (272732)
	The closest approximation to the registration rates that you have requested is the number of people who were registered to vote in Local Government elections as a percentage of the estimated resident population aged 18 and over. The table shows these percentages for each Local Authority in the UK in 2007. This is the latest year for which estimates of the usually resident population are available by Local Authority. A copy of the table has been placed in the Library of the House.
	Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages. There may be an underestimation in some areas, as not everyone who is usually resident is entitled to vote. For example foreign citizens from outside of the EU and Commonwealth are not eligible to vote.
	Conversely, for other areas the percentages may be over estimates and, in some cases, exceed one hundred per cent as figures for the registered electorate may be inflated. People who have more than one address may register in more than one place (e.g. students may register at parental and term-time addresses) and electoral registration officers vary in how quickly they remove people from the registers after they have moved away from an area or died.
	Data on how much each local authority spent on electoral registration per elector are not currently available. As part of its work in developing Performance Standards for electoral services, the Electoral Commission launched a financial information survey across Great Britain on 10 September 2007. Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers were asked to complete the survey and return it by 31 July 2008.
	The Commission is currently analysing this information in conjunction with CIPFA (the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants) and will publish results in due course. It will be for the Commission to decide whether it wishes to collect and publish financial information in relation to 2008-09.

Local Government: Manpower

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what records the Office of National Statistics holds on the number of people employed by individual local authorities.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009;
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what records the Office for National Statistics holds on the number of people employed by individual local authorities. (271225).
	The Office for National Statistics collects employment statistics for the public sector, including Local Authorities in England and Wales as part of the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES).
	The results of this survey are published in aggregate as part of the Public Sector Employment First Release. The latest published statistics are for December 2008 and copies are available in the library of the House.
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0309.pdf
	The published statistics provide totals for the UK by sector classification, industry and Civil Service department. Statistics are not available for individual Local Authorities.
	Employment totals of individual Local Authorities, collected by the QPSES, will be published for the first time by Local Government Association (LGA) in June 2009.

Pensioners: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners with a net household income of less than £130 a week in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated May 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners with a net household income of less than £130 a week in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years. (273374)
	The information requested is not available.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Ammunition: Exports

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 19W, on ammunition: exports, how many of the 67 licences related to exports to each country.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 5 May 2009
	 The Government publish summary details of export licences issued, refused and revoked in their annual and quarterly reports on strategic export controls. This is broken down by destination, including a summary of the items covered by these licences.
	The Government's annual reports, published since 1997, and quarterly reports, published since 2004, are available from the House of Commons Library and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/publications/annual-reports/export-controls1
	The latest date for which information is available is 31 December 2008.
	The annual report summary for munitions that are designed to create illumination or to act as an incendiary fall under the following goods descriptions:
	Smoke hand grenades, smoke ammunition, signal flares, signal hand grenades, signal flares, incendiary hand grenades and illuminators.
	The reports do not break down goods descriptions beyond this level of detail.

Better Regulation Executive: Manpower

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the  (a) annual budget and  (b) number of staff employed by or in support of (i) the Better Regulation Executive and (ii) the Local Better Regulation Office has been in each year since their creation.

Ian Pearson: The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) was established in May 2005. Its budget was £7.6 million in 2006-07; £7.0 million in 2007-08 and £6.7 million in 2008-09. In 2005-06, the BRE inherited a budget of £3.9 million from the Regulatory Impact Unit (RIU). However, the BRE's workload was greater than the RIU and therefore in this year the BRE incurred an overspend.
	The BRE employed 96 employees in 2005-06; 94 in 2006-07, 94 in 2007-08 and 99 in 2008-09.
	The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) was established in September 2007 and had a budget of £2.0 million in 2007-08 (£4 million pro rata); and £4.4 million in 2008-09. Additionally, the Welsh Assembly Government have commissioned the LBRO to undertake further specific work in Wales. In 2008-09, this grant was £234,000.
	The LBRO employed a total of 24 employees in 2007-08 and 29 employees in 2008-09.

Business: Government Assistance

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether individuals are eligible to apply for a loan through  (a) the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and  (b) the Working Capital Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Businesses with a turnover of up to £25 million seeking loans of between £1,000 and £1 million are eligible to apply for a loan through any of the 26 lenders approved to administer the Enterprise Finance Guarantee. Since its launch on 14 January, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has nearly £300 million of eligible applications from over 2,600 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed.
	Businesses cannot apply for direct support through the Working Capital Scheme. The scheme provides banks with guarantees covering 50 per cent. of the risk on existing and new working capital portfolios worth up to £10 billion, thereby freeing up lender capital for onward lending and benefiting businesses.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been spent on promoting the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to potential borrowers since its creation; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government are running a multi-media advertising campaign, "Real Help for Businesses Now", to raise awareness by businesses of the whole range of advice and support available to help them. Promotion of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee is integral to this campaign and it is therefore not possible to isolate a discrete figure.

Exports: Power Stations

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy that fossil fuel plants exported with support of the Export Credits Guarantee Department include integrated carbon capture and storage technology.

Ian Pearson: It is ECGD's policy that projects it supports should comply with the relevant international standards.
	The most recently published international standard relating to fossil fuel fired power stations is "Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines for Thermal Power Plants" published by the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) in December 2008.

Financial Reporting Council

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on which dates in the last three years his Department held meetings with the Financial Reporting Council to discuss the accounting practices of banks.

Ian Pearson: We have no records of any meetings specifically to discuss the accounting practices of banks, but there have been numerous contacts between BERR officials and members and officials of the FRC and its operating bodies over the last three years at which the matter of the accounting practices of banks will have been raised as one of the matters discussed.

Manufacturing Industries

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the  (a) terms of reference,  (b) estimated cost and  (c) planned final reporting date are of Mark Gibson's review of engineering and construction industry productivity; what Mr Gibson's fee and expense arrangements are for conducting the review; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The terms of reference of the review of productivity and skills in the engineering construction sector (the Gibson Review) are:
	Building on the previous (2005) study commissioned by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board the review would:
	Assess the state of productivity in engineering construction in the UK (as 2005)
	Identify the key inhibitors to productivity including skills aspects (as 2005)
	Compare productivity levels with those experienced on overseas sites (as 2005)
	Identify changes in practice, and factors, and their effect on productivity in the period since the ECITB 2005 review
	Identify specifically the factors influencing success for UK-based companies bidding for UK and foreign, especially other European Union, engineering construction contracts (over the last six years)
	Make recommendations on:
	Ways to improve skills and productivity in the UK engineering construction industry.
	What steps small firms can take to compete and to develop new skills and technologies in process
	Strengthening the links between procurement of major public projects and provision of training through methods such as contracting
	How procurement practices can be geared to support productivity in UK firms.
	The estimated costs of the review are £250,000. The majority of these costs relate to staff time for BERR and DIUS officials in the review team.
	There is no firm deadline for the completion of the review, although this is expected to be around autumn, 2009.
	Mark Gibson is employed by the Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG). Mr. Gibson's services in connection with the review are covered by a contract between BERR and WIG to the value of £6,375 plus expenses, plus VAT.
	WIG is an independent, not for profit, politically neutral organisation, whose purpose is to encourage better understanding between business and Government. Mr. Gibson will not benefit personally from the contract.

Minimum Wage

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people aged  (a) 16,  (b) 17,  (c) 18,  (d) 19,  (e) 20 and  (f) over 20 years old have been in receipt of the national minimum wage applicable to them in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK in each year since its inception.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people aged (a) 16, (b) 17, (c) 18, (d) 19, (e) 20 and (f) over 20 years did have been in receipt of the national minimum wage applicable to them in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK in each year since its inception. (270219)
	Estimates for the number of jobs paid at the national minimum wage are not available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, estimates for the number of employee jobs paid below the national minimum wage are available. The lowest geographical breakdown of estimates of all employee jobs paid below the national minimum wage published by the ONS is Government Office Region. Furthermore, estimates for the number of employee jobs paid below the national minimum wage by region by age are not available, but UK estimates are published for employees aged 16 to 17, aged 18 to 21 and aged 22 and over.
	I attach a table showing the number of jobs earning less than the national minimum wage in the UK for all employees, for employees aged 16-17, aged 18-21 and aged 22 and over and for all employees only in the North East Figures are provided for each year since the inception of the national minimum wage in 1999.
	A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles can be found on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837
	
		
			  Estimates of UK and North East jobs paid below minimum wage; 1999 to 2008 
			  Thousand 
			   UK 16 to17-year-olds  UK 18 to 21-year-olds  UK aged 22 and over  UK  North East 
			   No. of jobs below NMW  %  No. of jobs below NMW  %  No. of jobs below NMW  %  No. of jobs below NMW  %  No. of jobs below NMW  % 
			 1999 — — 40 2.4 460 2.1 490 2.1 * — 
			 2000 — — 30 2.2 190 0.9 230 1.0 * — 
			 2001 — — 40 2.1 210 0.9 240 1.0 * — 
			 2002 — — 50 2.7 290 1.3 340 1.4 * — 
			 2003** — — 40 2.3 210 0.9 250 1.0 * — 
			 2004 — — x44 2.3 233 1.0 276 1.1 x19 1.9 
			 2005 xx20 4.0 x55 3.0 233 1.0 308 1.2 xx16 1.6 
			 2006 xx14 3.8 x44 2.3 238 1.0 296 1.2 xx15 1.5 
			 2007 xx16 4.0 x49 2.6 231 1.0 296 1.1 xx16 1.5 
			 2008 xx17 3.9 x47 2.6 224 0.9 288 1.1 xx13 1.2 
			 * Sample size too small for reliable estimate. ** These estimates for 2003 are produced using the annually revised data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2003.  Notes: Number of jobs paid at less than £3.00 per hour (aged 18-21) or £3.60 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 1999 to 2000. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.20 per hour (aged 18-21) or £3.70 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2001. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.50 per hour (aged 18-21) or £4.10 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2002. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.60 per hour (aged 18-21) or £4.20 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2003. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.80 per hour (aged 18-21) or £4.50 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2004. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.00 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4.10 per hour (aged 18-21) or £4.85 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2005. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.00 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4.25 per hour (aged 18-21) or £5.05 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2006. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.30 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4.45 per hour (aged 18-21) or £5.35 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2007. Number of jobs paid at less than £3.40 per hour (aged 16-17) or £4.60 per hour (aged 18-21) or £5.52 per hour (aged 22 and over) for 2008.  Guide to quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.  Key: CV [le] 5% CV ≥ 5% and [le] 10% x CV ≥ 10% and [le] 20% xx  Sources: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics, 1999-2008 Labour Force Survey, 1999-2003

Nigeria: Exports

George Young: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to reach a decision on the application for an export licence for goods for Nigeria referred to in the letter from the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire of 22 September 2008, and subsequent correspondence of 6 and 31 October 2008 and 23 March 2009.

Ian Pearson: An export licence for these goods was issued on 23 April 2009.

Royal Mail: Profits

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much profit General Logistics Systems made in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 12 March 2009
	General Logistics Systems made a £114 million operating profit before exceptional items for the financial year 2007-08. For the first six months of financial year 2008-09 (period April to September 2008) it made an operating profit before exceptional items of £59 million.

Small Business: Government Assistance

Colin Breed: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made on allowing small businesses to access the £1 billion fund announced in December 2008.

Ian Pearson: On 14 January 2009, the Government launched the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) as part of a wider programme of Real Help for Business.
	As of 22 April 2009, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has nearly £300 million of eligible applications from over 2,600 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed.

Small Businesses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small businesses operate in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and (d) England.

Ian Pearson: The following table shows the number of small businesses in the north-east and England at the start of 2007. Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	Businesses are classified as small if they have between zero and 49 employees.
	
		
			   Number of small businesses 
			 North-east 132,480 
			 England 4,032,400 
			  Source: BERR SME Statistics 2007: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/ 
		
	
	Estimates of the total number of small businesses (registered and unregistered) are only available at national and regional level, and not at parliamentary constituency level.
	However, figures are available for the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE to parliamentary constituency level. These figures exclude the very smallest businesses and we estimate that only 45 per cent. of businesses are registered for either VAT or PAYE.
	The following table shows the number of registered small businesses in the Jarrow constituency and South Tyneside as of March 2008.
	
		
			   Number of registered small business 
			 Jarrow constituency 1,320 
			 South Tyneside 2,380 
			  Source: Office for National Statistics—'UK Business: Activity, Size and Location—2008' http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=933

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effect on antisocial behaviour of levels of sales of alcohol from off-licences.

Vernon Coaker: No specific assessment has been made on the effect on antisocial behaviour of levels of sales of alcohol from off-licences, however the Government are aware that alcohol is a factor in some instances of antisocial behaviour and a number of actions have been taken to address the issue. These include the provisions in the Policing and Crime Bill which will introduce a mandatory code for all alcohol retailers, and will give licensing authorities new powers to clamp down on specific problems in their areas. We have also given £3 million to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in order to undertake multi-agency enforcement activities on specific alcohol-related problems. We have made available a further £1.5 million to our top 50 priority areas which have the highest levels of alcohol-related crime and disorder and public concern about drunk or rowdy behaviour. This money has been used to tackle under age sales, to confiscate alcohol from under 18s and to run communications campaigns to tell local people what action is being taken in their area.
	A number of antisocial behaviour tools and powers are also available which include written warnings, home visits, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Parenting Orders/Contracts, crack house and premises closure orders, antisocial behaviour orders and dispersal zones. We have recently just finished a series of 13 regional Alcohol Enforcement Skills Development training workshops for front-line practitioners covering the use of these tools and powers and those available under the Licensing Act 2003. In addition, we are legislating to improve these powers, including increasing the fine for anyone not obeying an instruction to stop drinking in a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) area, making it easier for the police to disperse antisocial drinkers, and introducing a new offence of persistent underage possession. We are also encouraging wider use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and have recently extended the alcohol arrest referral pilots to include under 18s. We are working across Government to take these actions forward.

Antisocial Behaviour: Crime Prevention

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of mosquito teen deterrents in use.

Vernon Coaker: Information on the use of mosquito dispersal devices is not collected centrally by the Home Office.

Anti-terrorism Control Orders

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on payments to individuals subject to control orders for  (a) accommodation,  (b) council tax,  (c) utility bills,  (d) telephone line rental,  (e) pre-paid telephone cards and phone bills and  (f) other subsistence in each year since 2005.

Vernon Coaker: Expenditure on accommodation, council tax, utility bills, pre-paid telephone cards and other subsistence prior to April 2007 was absorbed by the UK Border Agency as part of spending on accommodation for asylum seekers. Figures covering the expenditure on accommodation for controlled persons could be retrieved only at disproportionate cost.
	During the last two financial years the Department has spent the following amounts on accommodation, council tax, utility bills, pre-paid telephone cards and other subsistence:
	
		
			   £ 
			 April 2007-March 2008 244,078.15 
			 April 2008-(end of) February 2009 187,522.05 
		
	
	This expenditure could be broken down further only at disproportionate cost.
	During the last three financial years, the Home Office has paid the following amounts on telephone line rental, bills and connection charges for those subject to control orders:
	
		
			   £ 
			 April 2006-March 2007 3,186.59 
			 April 2007-March 2008 2,209.39 
			 April 2008-February 2009 1,635.13 
		
	
	This expenditure could be broken down further only at disproportionate cost.

Assaults on Police

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many assaults on police constables per 100,000 population were recorded in each police force area in  (a) 2003-04 and  (b) 2004-05.

Vernon Coaker: Data for assaults on all officers in England and Wales were published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary at the time. Links to these publications are provided below.
	http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/docs/HMIC_Annual_Report_2003-04.pdf
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0506/hc08/0842/0842.pdf

Asylum

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer from Lord West of Spithead of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA165, on asylum seekers, how her Department ensures that asylum seekers with grounds to make an appeal or fresh claim are given the opportunity to do so before attending a re-documentation interview.

Phil Woolas: Where an asylum claim falls to be refused, and the consequent immigration decision attracts a right of appeal, applicants are notified how to appeal and by when. The United Kingdom Border Agency is not required to wait for any appeal right to be exercised or any lodged appeal to be concluded before a re-documentation interview is arranged.
	Case owners give full consideration to further representations, including whether they amount to a fresh claim, and decide on a case by case basis whether it is appropriate to suspend the re-documentation process in the light of those representations. The re-documentation interview is not prejudicial to the consideration of further representations or the outcome of any appeal.

Asylum

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were removed through  (a) assisted voluntary returns and  (b) enforced returns in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of asylum seekers who were removed or departed voluntarily from the UK on a quarterly and annual basis.
	The latest published annual information for the last four years can be found in table 7a of the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, bulletin
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/immih408.pdf.
	Information prior to 2005 can be found in table 6.1 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007 bulletin
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb1008.pdf.
	Published statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html.

Asylum

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of age assessments made by the UK Border Agency in 2008 have been successfully challenged on appeal.

Phil Woolas: Information on the percentage of age assessments made by the UK Border Agency in 2008 that have been successfully challenged on appeal is not available. This is because our Case Information Database does not record the specific reasons why an appeal is allowed. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by the examination of a large number of individual case files.

Asylum

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases there were in the Legacy casework system on the latest date for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The previous Home Secretary informed Parliament in July 2006 of
	"the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's case load of around 400,000 to 450,000 electronic and paper records, which as hon. Members also know, are riddled with duplication and errors, and include cases of individuals who have since died or left the country, or are now EU citizens"
	The Case Resolution Directorate has concluded 155,500 cases up to 9 January and the chief executive of the UK Border Agency will update the Home Affairs Select Committee on case conclusion progress in the summer.

Asylum

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to have cleared the backlog of applications in the Legacy casework system.

Phil Woolas: The Case Resolution Directorate aims to complete all cases in the asylum backlog by 2011 and is currently on track to do so.

Asylum

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications in the Legacy casework system were made in each of the last seven years.

Phil Woolas: The work to clear the backlog of asylum cases was announced to Parliament in July 2006. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency provided an update on clearing the backlog of older cases to the Home Affairs Committee on 8 December 2008 and the next update is expected in the summer. To provide this information would involve a detailed examination of all our case records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Asylum

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a decision will be made on the application for asylum by a constituent of the hon. Member for North-East Milton Keynes, Sima Salamat, Home Office reference number S1011503.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency sent a reply to the hon. Member on 30 April 2009.

Asylum: Finance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted section 4 support in each of the last five years; and how many people were in receipt of section 4 support in each of those years.

Phil Woolas: The table shows the number of failed asylum seekers granted section four support and those who were in receipt of section four support. Information on the number of failed asylum seekers receiving section four support is only available from March 2005.
	The number of failed asylum seekers granted section four support and the number of people in receipt of section four support is published on a quarterly and annual basis.
	The latest publication covering the fourth quarter of 2008 is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		
			  Number of asylum seekers who were granted section 4 support and in receipt of section 4 support, excluding dependants, 2005 to 2008( 1,2) 
			  Number of principal applicants 
			   Decisions to grant section 4  Persons in receipt of section 4 at the end of the period 
			 2005 10,235 5,145 
			 2006 6,025 6,555 
			 2007(3) 6,705 9,140 
			 2008(3) 9,110 10,295 
			 (1) Figures rounded to the nearest five. (2) Information on Section 4 support prior to April 2007 is understated due to data quality issues associated with previous recording systems. The process of recording data on ASYS (the support database) improved the quality of the information. (3) Provisional figures.

Asylum: Finance

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 March 2009,  Official Report, column 69WS, on asylum support, in which areas the plastic payment card system for the administration of section 4 support is to be piloted; how many asylum seekers will be involved in the pilot programme; what the planned timetable for the pilot programme is; what the aims of the pilot programme are; what estimate she has made of the cost of the pilot programme; what criteria will apply in respect of its assessments; when she expects to publish an evaluation of the pilot programme; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The introduction of the Section 4 Support Card will be piloted in London and the north-west region and the plan is to issue the card to around 200 people.
	The date for commencing the pilot programme has not yet been determined and planning for the pilot programme is at an early stage. I am unable to provide any more information at the present time. There are no plans to issue a statement.

Asylum: Finance

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 March 2009,  Official Report, column 69WS, on asylum support, if she will provide section 4 support for asylum seekers in cash; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: There are no plans to begin paying section 4 support to failed asylum seekers in cash.

Asylum: Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences since 11 September 2001 have at some point claimed asylum.

Phil Woolas: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Terrorism

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those arrested in the course of Operation Pathway claimed asylum after being arrested.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency does not normally disclose the immigration status of individuals.

Community Relations

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 312W, on community relations, when she expects Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to report its findings in relation to its inspection of police Prevent activity.

Vernon Coaker: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary are nearing completion of their inspection of police Prevent activity, and plan to report their findings in May 2009, a month later than previously planned.

Community Relations: Contracts

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any of the tasks to be undertaken under the Channel Project will be delivered by subcontractors.

Vernon Coaker: Channel relies on the full range of local partners, including statutory and community-based partners, to provide support packages for those individuals identified as vulnerable to being drawn into violent extremism. These organisations are not funded through the Home Office's Channel grant. Home Office funding for Channel covers the costs of salaries for Channel co-ordinators.

Community Relations: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1482W, on community relations: finance, how many of the 33 projects aimed at disrupting violent extremism will be delivered by subcontractors; and how the performance of those subcontractors will be monitored.

Vernon Coaker: Our delivery partners (subcontractors) are contributing to the delivery of 16 of the 33 projects aimed at disrupting violent extremism. Where they are being used, a number of systems are in place to monitor delivery including:
	Internal evaluation schemes;
	Project Board meetings or monthly update meetings;
	Independent evaluation;
	Progress reports;
	Agreed action plans.

Community Relations: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1481W, on community relations: finance, which of the grass roots projects aimed at tackling radicalisation funded by her Department are being delivered by subcontractors; and what measures are in place to monitor the performance of such subcontractors.

Vernon Coaker: The nine projects that are funded by the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism Prevent Unit are being delivered by subcontractors. The arrangements in place to monitor these projects are through a third sector intermediary and their evaluation is overseen by internal researchers.

Community Relations: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1481-82W, on community relations: finance, what projects aimed at preventing violent extremism are being undertaken by youth offending and youth secure establishments; and whether any of these projects are being run by subcontractors.

Vernon Coaker: There are currently 40 operational projects in Youth Offending Teams, Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres across England and Wales that the Youth Justice Board have responsibility for. A further nine are due to undertake projects with immediate effect.
	Projects range from mentoring to sport and arts based activities to civil and community lead initiatives. Project work with young people across the criminal justice sector ranges from light touch prevention projects working with those young people who have yet to enter the criminal justice arena, to more tailored interventions with young people on community and custody orders.
	Youth Offending Teams, Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres have been actively encouraged to work with a range of different community and third sector partners. They have also been encouraged to align to the local authority's local Preventing Violent Extremism delivery plan, which they must feed into. This process will limit the possibilities of duplication in projects and funding.
	Funding has been given to the Youth Offending Teams, Young Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres and the Youth Justice Board has an established audit and accounting process already in place with these establishments. In addition, progress is overseen by the Youth Justice Board's Preventing Violent Extremism Programme Board and governance structures within the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism also provide oversight and challenge. The University of Huddersfield has been contracted to provide independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the programmes.

Community Relations: Finance

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Prevent strategy has cost in each year since its inception; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Prevent Strategy was launched in October 2007. Total Home Office spending in 2007-08 was under £2 million. The United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering International Terrorism published in March 2009 sets out the cost of key deliverables in 2008-09 and this includes more than £140 million across Government on the Prevent Strategy.

Community Security Trust

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place a copy of her speech to the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust on 2 March 2009 in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: A copy of the Home Secretary's speech to the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust on 2 March is available on the Home Office website at
	http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/Speeches/speech-community-security-trust

Demonstrations: Parliament Square

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group were arrested during the demonstration in Parliament Square on 20 April 2009; how many have been charged with offences committed during that demonstration; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many police officers of each rank took part in policing the demonstration held in Parliament Square on 20 April 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information. These are operational matters for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Demonstrations: Parliament Square

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps she  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to ensure that Parliament Square is kept free of demonstrators on parliamentary sitting days; what recent representations she has received on this issue; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will commission a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the policing of the demonstration held in Parliament Square on 20 April 2009; what steps the police  (a) have taken and  (b) are planning to take to clear Parliament Square of demonstrators; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Government are committed to protecting and facilitating the right to peaceful protest. Police tactics and decisions on policing protests are matters for the independent judgment of chief officers of police. We have made it clear that there should be no unnecessary restrictions on the right to protest in the vicinity of Parliament. Following our consultation exercise last year on managing protest around Parliament, we announced our intention to repeal the relevant provisions in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. We intend to do that as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Demonstrations: Parliament Square

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many arrests the police have made of persons demonstrating in Parliament Square and adjacent areas since 3 April 2009 under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 for the offence of demonstrating without authorisation in a designated area;
	(2)  how many items have been confiscated by the police from Tamil demonstrators in Parliament Square and in lieu of arrest under the provisions of section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 since the commencement of the protest;
	(3)  how many arrests the police have made in connection with the Tamil protest in Parliament Square and adjacent areas since its commencement; for what offence or offences each individual has been arrested; and how many of these arrests were made of the offence of display of support for an organisation proscribed under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information. These are operational matters for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Demonstrations: Parliament Square

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the daily cost of policing the ongoing demonstration in Parliament Square has been; how many police officers of each rank are taking part in policing the demonstration; how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group have been arrested since 21 April 2009; how many have been charged with offences committed during that demonstration since 21 April 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information. These are operational matters for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police.

Departmental Billing

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of its suppliers her Department has paid within 10 days of receipt of invoice in each of the last five months.

Phil Woolas: The percentage of invoices paid within 10 days to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in each of the last five months is as follows:
	
		
			  Month  Percentage of invoices paid to SMEs within 10 days 
			 November 2008 19 
			 December 2008 27 
			 January 2009 27 
			 February 2009 36 
			 March 2009 50 
		
	
	As many suppliers issue more than one invoice in each month, it is not possible to provide the percentage of the Department's suppliers which are paid within 10 days of receipt of invoice.

Departmental Data Protection

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private contractors have been granted access to personal data held by her Department in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The information required is not held centrally, therefore we are unable to provide an answer because of the disproportionate cost threshold.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of contractors and suppliers to  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, "Data Handling Procedures in Government", and the accompanying document, "Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action", on 25 June 2008.

Phil Woolas: All contractors have been informed of the requirements.
	In addition, in September 2008 each major Home Office supplier was sent a letter to a named, senior individual in the organisation reminding them of their responsibilities regarding data handling and requesting sight of the supplier's policy. A self assurance model is being developed, supplemented by a risk based audit regime on suppliers.
	A supplier conference has been held which specifically included a presentation on the approach to data handling and supplier obligations.
	The Home Office is using the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) model services contract which contains the revised security terms and guidance to reflect the recommendations contained in the "Data Handling Procedures in Government" report for all new contracts.

Departmental Databases

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) guidelines and  (b) safeguards her Department has in place for the commercial licensing of its departmental databases.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold any commercial licensed databases for the use of private companies therefore there are no guidelines or safeguards in place.

Departmental Databases

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of her Department's  (a) centrally managed and  (b) agency managed databases are commercially licensed for the use of private companies; to whom each is licensed; and how much revenue her Department has received for each licence.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold any commercial licensed databases for the use of private companies.

Departmental Higher Education

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department undertook courses funded by the Department for  (a) undergraduate degrees,  (b) postgraduate degrees or diplomas,  (c) Masters degrees,  (d) MBA degrees and  (e) PhD degrees in the last 12 months, broken down by pay band.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office HQ, United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA), Identity and Passport Service (IPS), and the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) provide sponsorship for staff to undertake a range of training leading to higher education qualifications.
	Data are not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental ICT

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) printers and  (b) multi-function devices with printing functions were in use in each division of her Department in each of the last five years; how many such devices had a function enabling two-sided printing; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office operates a large scale, multi vendor supply chain delivering a wide range of ICT categories. Service capacity utilisation and the number of printers and multi-functional devices with printer capability are managed by our suppliers as part of the service offering. The information requested by the hon. Member is not therefore available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the Home Office is working towards a ratio of one printer per 20 people and work is under way to review and rationalise data centres and to convert network printers to duplex capability where practicable.
	The Home Office, in line with all other Chief Information Officers (CIOs) on the CIO Council, has produced a "CIO Green ICT Roadmap" which we will be following to deliver against the 18 target improvement areas outlined in the Greening Government ICT Strategy.
	The CIOs and Chief Technology Officers (CTO) Council of the Cabinet Office have completed the CIO Green ICT Roadmap baselines for all of its CIOs including local government representatives and agencies.
	A full report of the CIO Council Green ICT Roadmaps will be made available in May featuring the action plans of all Departments involved in the council against the 18 steps. A final "one year on" report will be issued by the Cabinet Office in July. The CIO/CTO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit will refresh its annual CIO key objectives against the latest developments in technology and advances in carbon measurement which will be circulated for comment to all CIOs and relevant Departments this summer.
	The Home Office is directly represented on the CIO/CTO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit and is responsible for providing support to the development of the pan-government Greening Government ICT Strategy and leadership.

Departmental Rail Travel

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department issues on whether its members of staff may claim for travel in first class carriages on trains if there are no seats in standard class.

Phil Woolas: My Department's policy, for the majority of staff who are limited to standard class travel, is that first class travel is permitted only when:
	(i) the member of staff can certify that he/she could not find a seat in standard class, although staff must take advantage wherever possible of reserving a seat or travelling at a different time. This concession is not applicable for travel on suburban lines;
	(ii) it is operationally essential to sit with a civil servant who is entitled to and is travelling first class; or
	(iii) it is operationally essential to sit with a non civil servant who is travelling first class.
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the civil service management and ministerial codes.
	As part of its wider focus on increasing value for money, the Home Office has a travel contract that enables significant savings to be achieved compared with the standard price of UK rail travel.

Departmental Surveys

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on staff surveys in each of the last five years; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office Headquarters (HQ) and the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) ran joint staff surveys in 2004, 2005 and 2008; all of the surveys were run by ORC International. HQ and UKBA together spent £75,459 on the 2004 Staff Survey, £65,578 on the 2005 survey, and £66,338.64 for the 2008 survey.
	The Criminal Records Bureau used Ipsos MORI to run a staff survey in each of the last five years. The cost of running the 2006 survey was £24,120, and in 2007 it cost £25,180. Exact figures are unavailable for 2004, 2005 and 2008 but each survey cost approximately £25,000.
	The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has run two surveys over the last five years: in 2005, using Ipsos MORI; and in 2007 using Jigsaw. IPS is unable to provide the cost of the survey in 2005 without incurring a disproportionate cost but the 2007 staff survey cost £65,823.

Departmental Training

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has provided voice coaching to any of its employees in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: A small proportion of staff within the Home Office will have had some voice coaching as part of their training in presentation skills. Information about this is not collated centrally.

Deportation

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been deported on the grounds of national security in the last  (a) 12 months,  (b) five years and  (c) 10 years; and how many such deportations were to (i) Pakistan, (ii) India, (iii) Yemen, (iv) Saudi Arabia, (v) Iran, (vi) Afghanistan, (vii) Bangladesh, (viii) Turkey and (ix) Oman.

Phil Woolas: The number of individuals deported on the grounds of national security is  (a) none in the last 12 months,  (b) nine in the last five years and  (c) nine in the last 10 years. No deportation on the grounds of national security has taken place to the countries listed in the past 10 years.

Deportation: Children

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a race impact study has been undertaken of the practice of removal from the UK of British citizen children with a foreign parent.

Phil Woolas: There has not been a race impact study conducted as the UK Border Agency does not remove children who are British citizens. However, where a foreign national is subject to enforced return and is a parent to a child with British citizenship, it is possible for that child to accompany the parent through the enforcement process. This is only on a voluntary basis and with the consent of all parties.
	UK born children who are not British citizens can be detained and removed under Immigration Act powers.

Detainees: Young People

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many children aged  (a) under five,  (b) five to 10 and  (c) 10 to 15 years old have been held in immigration removal centres in the UK in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many children aged  (a) under five years old,  (b) from five to 10 years old and  (c) from 10 to 15 years held in immigration removal centres in the UK have been held there for (i) less than six months, (ii) between six and 12 months, (iii) 12 to 24 months and (iv) longer than 24 months.

Phil Woolas: The requested information is not available. The Home Office has however published the number of adults and children recorded as leaving detention in the UK solely under Immigration Act powers by length of detention between January 2005 and September 2006.
	Information for each year is available from the Library of the House and in Table 9.4 of each year's Asylum Statistics United Kingdom publication published each August
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1407.pdf
	Information outside this time period is not available.
	National statistics on the total number of children detained on a quarterly snapshot basis by length of detention are available in Table 11 of the Control of Immigration Quarterly Statistical Summary United Kingdom publication
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/immiq408.pdf
	and from the Library of the House.

Detection Rates: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate for crimes of  (a) violence against the person,  (b) robbery,  (c) burglary in a dwelling,  (d) theft of a motor vehicle and  (e) theft from a vehicle was in each basic command unit in the Staffordshire Police Authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the table. Statistics at basic command unit level are only available from 1999-2000 onwards.
	It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the percentage change in detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
	
		
			  Detection rates for selected offences in Staffordshire basic command units( 1) 
			  Percentage detected 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03( 1)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Violence against the person  
			 Chase 65 52 42 71 72 71 66 63 44 
			 North Staffordshire 54 44 32 69 71 70 71 71 47 
			 Stoke on Trent 57 50 41 68 70 66 67 63 49 
			 Trent Valley 54 60 38 67 65 63 65 62 48 
			   
			  Robbery  
			 Chase 31 30 18 32 31 22 17 27 17 
			 North Staffordshire 26 32 18 25 23 25 26 19 17 
			 Stoke on Trent 21 20 20 21 22 24 42 32 20 
			 Trent Valley 25 24 22 24 20 35 17 15 15 
			   
			  Burglary in a dwelling  
			 Chase 15 14 17 24 23 24 16 20 21 
			 North Staffordshire 10 8 10 13 16 12 17 19 8 
			 Stoke on Trent 8 11 11 15 23 20 23 21 18 
			 Trent Valley 12 12 20 20 22 22 14 15 10 
			   
			  Theft of motor  
			 Chase 14 12 13 19 19 17 16 20 19 
			 North Staffordshire 9 8 10 39 20 20 21 21 15 
			 Stoke on Trent 10 10 12 17 22 21 21 24 22 
			 Trent Valley 10 10 13 18 13 22 15 17 13 
			   
			  Theft from vehicle  
			 Chase 6 4 5 14 7 13 6 14 11 
			 North Staffordshire 3 3 5 17 11 4 8 7 7 
			 Stoke on Trent 5 4 3 11 9 15 12 14 15 
			 Trent Valley 5 4 3 8 7 10 8 10 6 
			 (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in 2002-03 and detections data before and after that date are not directly comparable.  Note: From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very small limited set of circumstances. This has significantly reduced the number of non-sanction detections which has been reflected in the overall detection rates.

DNA: Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each police force area had their DNA samples and personal information removed from the National DNA Database in each of the last  (a) five years and  (b) 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Table 1 shows the number of subject profiles removed from the National DNA Database for all reasons (including removals under the Exceptional Case Procedure, i.e. following a request to the chief officer of the responsible force from the person concerned) between April 2004 and December 2007.
	Table 2 shows the number of subject profiles removed from the National DNA Database under the Exceptional Case Procedure only, for each month between January 2008 and March 2009, and for the year one April 2008 to 31 March 2009.
	As the figures before January 2008 show all removals, and figures after that date show removals under the Exceptional Case Procedure only, the figures for April to December 2007 and those for January to March 2008 cannot be added to produce a figure for the year 2007-08.
	The tables cover subject profiles from English and Welsh forces only.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Force  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007( 1) 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 1 14 5 
			 Bedfordshire 0 2 2 2 
			 British Transport 0 3 6 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 2 4 
			 Cheshire 0 0 8 2 
			 City of London 0 0 1 3 
			 Cleveland 2 4 0 4 
			 Cumbria 1 0 1 2 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 2 1 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 1 8 2 
			 Dorset 1 1 2 2 
			 Durham 0 0 2 4 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 1 2 4 
			 Essex 0 2 3 10 
			 Gloucestershire 1 1 1 2 
			 Greater Manchester 1 3 10 6 
			 Gwent 0 1 1 1 
			 Hampshire 0 5 8 4 
			 Hertfordshire 1 1 12 3 
			 Humberside 0 2 0 5 
			 Kent 2 4 9 2 
			 Lancashire 0 4 4 1 
			 Leicestershire 0 1 4 1 
			 Lincolnshire 0 6 0 6 
			 Merseyside 4 2 2 1 
			 Metropolitan 10 45 68 47 
			 Norfolk 0 1 1 5 
			 North Wales 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 0 1 4 4 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 1 0 
			 Northumbria 2 4 9 13 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 5 12 5 
			 South Wales 0 5 1 1 
			 South Yorkshire 0 5 4 12 
			 Staffordshire 0 2 4 2 
			 Suffolk 0 0 2 3 
			 Surrey 0 0 8 11 
			 Sussex 5 0 7 5 
			 Thames Valley 1 1 5 5 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 0 1 
			 West Mercia 0 0 2 4 
			 West Midlands 2 4 29 12 
			 West Yorkshire 8 5 12 27 
			 Wiltshire 0 13 3 6 
			  
			 Total 42 136 276 241 
			 (1) April to December 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   2008  2009 
			  Force  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr 08 to Mar 09 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 12 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 British Transport 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 
			 Cheshire 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cleveland 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 
			 Cumbria 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 10 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 
			 Dorset 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Durham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Essex 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 11 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 1 0 1 8 
			 Gwent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 
			 Hampshire 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Hertfordshire 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Humberside 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 4 1 1 1 0 14 
			 Lancashire 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Leicestershire 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Lincolnshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Merseyside 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Metropolitan 0 5 2 2 2 2 2 9 3 0 2 9 2 10 5 48 
			 Norfolk 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 
			 North Wales 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 
			 North Yorkshire 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 7 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 
			 Northumbria 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 South Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 
			 South Yorkshire 0 5 0 2 0 0 2 4 1 22 9 4 0 0 0 44 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 
			 Suffolk 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 
			 Surrey 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 6 
			 Sussex 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 5 
			 Thames Valley 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 West Mercia 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 
			 West Midlands 0 2 0 4 1 2 5 1 5 1 2 1 4 0 0 26 
			 West Yorkshire 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 3 11 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			  
			 Total 6 31 6 16 16 26 14 31 29 41 33 23 17 20 15 281

DNA: Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what her latest estimate is of the number and proportion of people in each police force area who had their DNA stored on the DNA database and who had not been charged or convicted of a crime, who had subsequently had their DNA and personal information removed from the DNA database; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent estimate she has made of the number and proportion of people in each police force area with DNA stored on the National DNA Database as the result of a police investigation into a criminal offence who had not been  (a) charged and  (b) convicted of the crime under investigation; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The National DNA Database (NDNAD) is designed to match DNA taken from crime scenes with that taken from individuals. It does not hold information on whether those with records on it have been charged or convicted, as this is not necessary for its purpose. Some data on whether those on the NDNAD have convictions are available from the Police National Computer (PNC), but not as part of its routine functions and not within the cost limit for parliamentary questions. However, the National Policing Improvement Agency does periodically obtain information on the number of people on the NDNAD who do not currently have a conviction recorded on PNC.
	When data were last obtained from PNC they showed that at 31 March 2008 857,366 people on the NDNAD who had been sampled by England and Wales police forces did not have a current criminal record on PNC. However, this figure includes those who have been convicted and their records deleted, and those where proceedings are still ongoing, as well as those who have never been convicted. It would be possible to break this figure down by police force area only at disproportionate cost.
	More up to date information showing the number of people on the NDNAD in England and Wales with no current criminal record on PNC will be available shortly.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for student visas from  (a) Pakistan and  (b) Algeria were interviewed by UK-based immigration staff in each of the last 10 years, excluding appointments for biometric checks; and how many of those granted a visa were subsequently granted an extension of leave to remain in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Woolas: This information is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many student visas were granted to applicants from  (a) Pakistan and  (b) Algeria in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Woolas: The number of student visas issued to nationals of Pakistan and Algeria in each of the last five calendar years is shown in the table. Data held for previous years are not considered to be reliable.
	
		
			   Nationality 
			  Student visas issued  Pakistan  Algeria 
			 2004 13,683 337 
			 2005 9,765 281 
			 2006 13,372 417 
			 2007 12,300 532 
			 2008 9,663 338 
			 Total 58,783 1,905 
			  Note: The data are unpublished and should be treated as provisional.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether people who are outside the UK may apply to be subject to the transitional arrangements under the Tier 1 for post-study workers.

Phil Woolas: People outside the UK are not able to apply for leave to enter under the transitional arrangements for Tier 1 (post-study work).

Firearms: Crime

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes involving a firearm were recorded in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: Available information relates to violence against the person crimes recorded by Hertfordshire police, in which firearms (excluding air weapons) were reported to have been used from 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08. The data cannot be broken down to a more local level.
	
		
			  Violence against the person crimes involving firearms( 1)  (excluding air weapons): Hertfordshire police force area, 1998-99 to 2007-08 
			   Recorded crime  (n umber of offences ) 
			 1998-99 12 
			 1999-2000 5 
			 2000-01 17 
			 2001-02(2) 9 
			 2002-03(3) 48 
			 2003-04 66 
			 2004-05 86 
			 2005-06 69 
			 2006-07 43 
			 2007-08 69 
			 (1) Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument, or used as a threat. (2 )Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. (3) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable.

Forced Marriage

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of forced marriages which took place in  (a) Luton,  (b) Bedfordshire and  (c) East of England region in the last 12 months.

Vernon Coaker: The Government's Forced Marriage Unit (a joint Home Office and FCO Unit, established in 2005) deals with a significant number of forced marriage cases every year. In 2008, the unit began keeping more detailed statistics on all reportings of forced marriage that were referred to the FMU. These statistics are not broken down by local area, but are broken down by regions.
	During the whole of 2008 the unit received reports of over 1,600 possible forced marriage cases. Of those who gave a location, 5 per cent. were in the eastern region.

Forced Marriage

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department is providing for specialist support for organisations dealing with forced marriage in 2009-10; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Following a successful pilot in 2008 the joint Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has allocated £84,000 to its Domestic Programme fund for 2009-10. Specialist organisations will shortly be invited to apply for funds for project activities which support delivery of the FMU's 2009 and 2010 action plan. The Unit also separately funds support and awareness raising activity overseas, including in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
	The Home Office has also allocated a total of £3.5 million to the nine Government offices for the regions and the Welsh Assembly for 2009-10 to support initiatives to tackle domestic violence. A number of regions have chosen to allocate specific funding to local initiatives tackling forced marriage in their areas.

Forced Marriage: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of forced marriages which took place in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire in the last 12 months.

Vernon Coaker: The Government's forced marriage unit (a joint Home Office and FCO unit, established in 2005) deals with a significant number of forced marriage cases every year. In 2008, the Unit began keeping more detailed statistics on all reporting's of forced marriage that were referred to the FMU. These statistics are not broken down by local area, but are broken down by regions.
	During the whole of 2008 the unit received reports of over 1,600 possible forced marriage cases. Of those who gave a location, 5 per cent. were in the Eastern region.
	The unit intervened to provide direct support in 420 cases. Of these cases 213 were assistance cases where interventions were made overseas, and 207 were reluctant sponsor cases where immigration support was given.

G20: Greater London

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the policing of the G20 demonstrations in the City of London on 1 April 2009; and what assessment she has made of effectiveness of the use of the kettling procedure to control demonstrators.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Secretary has regular discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police which have included the policing of the G20 protests.
	Tactics used to police protests are operational matters for the chief officer of the force concerned. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has invited Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to review the police tactics involved in policing G20, including containment, to assess their effectiveness.

Heathrow Airport: Detainees

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish her response to the report of the Independent Monitoring Commission on immigration detention conditions at Heathrow Airport; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Both the chief executive of the UK Border Agency and I have already responded to the chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Heathrow. The Agency is appreciative of the work of the Board at the airport, and many of the suggested improvements identified in the report had already been identified and are therefore work in progress. Detention Services have, however, made further improvements a priority for the coming year.

Hillsborough Stadium: Disclosure of Information

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what papers held by her Department on the Hillsborough disaster she plans to publish in addition to those which have been placed in the Library.

Vernon Coaker: Government Departments holding papers on the Hillsborough tragedy are currently exploring the most appropriate means for reviewing undisclosed papers and, wherever possible, arranging for their disclosure. A statement will be issued once an appropriate way forward has been determined.

Human Trafficking

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for trafficking for  (a) sexual exploitation and  (b) labour exploitation since the inception of the Act.

Alan Campbell: 425 people have so far been arrested for trafficking for sexual exploitation under the relevant sections of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	161 people have been arrested for trafficking for the purposes of forced labour since the inception of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004.

Human Trafficking

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of victims of human trafficking who are repeat victims.

Vernon Coaker: The nature of human trafficking makes it difficult to provide a precise estimate of the number of victims in the United Kingdom, including those who are repeat victims. Our current estimate of the number of victims is that at any one time in 2003 there were up to 4,000 women in the UK who were victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
	The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre continues to work on providing a more up to date estimate of the number of victims. We will be in a position to provide a more up to date estimate of the overall number including repeat victims by the end of the year.

Human Trafficking

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will publish her Department's report on the Pentameter 2 operation against human trafficking; what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the operation in Bedfordshire; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Gloucestershire constabulary will be publishing a report on the outcomes of Pentameter 2 in the near future.

Identity Cards: Airports

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether airside workers will be able to request removal of their data from the temporary National Identity Register  (a) on leaving their job during the course of the pilot,  (b) at the end of the pilot and  (c) at any other time.

Phil Woolas: It is planed to start issuing identity cards from the second half of this year to airside workers at Manchester and London City airports. Identity cards issued to British citizens may be used for travel in Europe instead of a passport and will be valid for 10 years. Accordingly, the core identity information relating to all those issued with identity cards will be held securely on the National Identity Register and, in a similar way to information currently held for passport issue, would not be removed simply at the request of the card holder.
	Information will continue to be retained on the National Identity Register, in accordance with section 3(1) of the Identity Cards Act 2006 only for so long as it is consistent with the statutory purposes for it to be recorded in the Register.

Illegal Immigrants

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many clandestines were detected in vehicles attempting to enter the UK from France in 2008.

Phil Woolas: From 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 a total of 28,007 attempts by clandestines to enter the UK illegally were prevented. This figure includes multiple attempts made by individuals. The clandestines were detected by the UK Border Agency, alongside its partners at the Juxtaposed controls in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkerque.
	 Note
	These figures have been sourced from locally collated management information held within locally accessed computer systems and do not represent National Statistics. They have not been the subject of National Statistics protocols and verification and should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to change.

Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when she expects local immigration teams to be operational;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the likely cost of local immigration teams in 2009;
	(3)  what role the police will play in local immigration teams;
	(4)  what recent discussions she has had with representatives of  (a) local authorities and  (b) police forces on the local immigration team scheme.

Phil Woolas: Local immigration teams are being delivered as part of a rolling programme from 2009 to the end of 2011. Nine are already operational. We expect national coverage by operational local immigration teams to be in place by December 2011.
	Local immigration teams will be delivered from within the UK Border Agency's overall operational budget for the next three years.
	These teams' work will focus on the prevention and disruption of illegal activity and the arrest and removal of offenders. To disrupt illegal immigrants, the local teams will be backed by Immigration Crime Partnerships with the police. The police will work with immigration officers as equal partners in integrated teams to tackle organised immigration-related criminality as well as bringing a solution to those who are in the UK illegally and committing crime.
	UK Border Agency regional directors are leading the discussions with stakeholders in their regions.

Immigration Controls

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications under the Highly-Skilled Migrants programme have been received in each year since the programme began.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows the number of highly skilled migrant applications received in each year since the programme began.
	
		
			  Number of highly skilled migrant applications received( 1)  in each year 2002-08 
			   Number 
			 2002 2,495 
			 2003 6,575 
			 2004 23,845 
			 2005 38,620 
			 2006 51,590 
			 2007 56,975 
			 (1) Figures include review applications.  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest five. 2. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Immigration Controls

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many failed applicants under the Highly-Skilled Migrants programme have subsequently been deported;
	(2)  what the average cost of completing deportation proceedings against failed applicants under the Highly-Skilled Migrants programme was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed and departed voluntarily from the UK on a quarterly and annual basis. National Statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	These statistics are categorised by asylum or non-asylum removals and it is therefore not possible to disaggregate the numbers of those who have been removed after a failed application under the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme from the overall figures for removals without the examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
	Removals are delivered from within the UK Border Agency's overall operational budget. It is not possible to provide a figure for the average cost of removing a failed applicant under the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme because there are many different factors which may or may not be involved in the cost of a case (such as detention costs, travel costs, and the cost of escorting the individual in question). We are unable to disaggregate the specific costs and any attempt to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
	The National Audit Office (NAO) gives a breakdown of the cost of typical asylum cases in 2007-08 in part four of its report 'The Home Office Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency' which was published on 23 January 2009. Although this refers specifically to asylum applicants, it provides an indication of the average costs of removing a person from the UK under a range of different circumstances. The report is available for viewing at:
	http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0809/management_of_asylum_appl.aspx
	However, the UK Border Agency aims to ensure removals are effected at the lowest available rate subject to operational needs.

Immigration: Fees and Charges

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate revenue from charges for applications for  (a) visas to the UK,  (b) UK citizenship and  (c) work permits in each of the next six financial years.

Phil Woolas: In 2009-10, we estimate that we will raise £338 million from applications for visas, £81 million from British citizenship applications and £16 million from tier 2 leave to remain applications.
	We will continue to set fees in a way which ensures those who benefit from the system make an appropriate contribution towards the end to end costs of the immigration system.

Immigration: Romania

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will hold discussions with representatives of the government of Romania on the number of people from that country who were refused entry to the UK on the grounds that their presence would threaten public policy, public security or public health since 2007.

Phil Woolas: There are ongoing discussions with the Romanian Government, including at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in April, on various issues. HM Government have no current plans to meet with the Government of Romania on the number of Romanian citizens refused entry to the UK due to their presence being a threat to public policy, public security or public health. Any individual refused entry to the UK is dealt with on a case by case basis.

Immigration: Security Guards

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people applying for work as guards with the Security Industry Authority were asked to prove their immigration status in the latest year for which figures are available; how many of these did so; and how many of those found to be without the right to work  (a) appealed,  (b) appealed successfully and  (c) had an appeal challenged by the UK Border Agency.

Vernon Coaker: All applications for licences to the Security Industry Authority (SIA) from non-European Economic Area nationals are automatically checked for the right to work by the UK Border Agency at the request of the SIA.
	From 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009, 28,892 checks were conducted. Of these, 25,165 were confirmed as having the right to work.
	There were 3,727 who did not have the right to work, or where the UKBA had no trace of the applicant.
	Out of the 3,727, a total of 1,196 contacted the SIA to claim that they had the right to work. Of these 1,041 were successful in having their right to work confirmed and 155 were unsuccessful. During the same period there were 27 appeals to the courts of which 20 were upheld, three were dismissed and four are awaiting a court ruling.

Iona School: Demonstrations

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse was of the recent police operation at the Iona School, Sneinton; and whether there is to be a charge to the public purse for the school's repair and refurbishment required as a consequence of the demonstration;
	(2)  whether charges have been brought in relation to the recent demonstration at the Iona School, Sneinton; and what reports she has received on whether demonstrators forced their way into the main school rather than adjacent units.

Vernon Coaker: I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. The costs relating to a police operation is a matter for the chief officer of the force concerned.
	The police have a duty to facilitate peaceful protest, but balanced against this is their duty to prevent the commission of offences.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasions the decision to include the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the list of proscribed organisations has been reviewed in the last five years; and what criteria were applied to the review in each case.

Vernon Coaker: The list of proscribed organisations in schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000 is kept under regular review.
	It is Home Office policy to review the proscription of each organisation on the list at least once a year. The proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was specifically reviewed twice during the period 2004 to 2005 and subsequently reviewed at least once in each of the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.
	The proscription of the LTTE was additionally reviewed between October 2007 and January 2008 following receipt of an application for deproscription of the organisation. This application was refused.
	At each annual review, officials consider whether the organisation in question is "concerned in terrorism" as defined in Terrorism Act 2000 and, if so, whether as a matter of discretion the organisation should remain proscribed.

Members: Correspondence

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Macclesfield of 23 March 2009, Ref M7032/9, UKBA Ref M1368250, on indefinite leave to remain, sent on behalf of his constituent Mrs Chatellon Matibag.

Phil Woolas: The Deputy Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency replied to the letter on 24 April.

Metropolitan Police: Complaints

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many complaints have been made against police officers serving in the Metropolitan Police for concealing shoulder numbers in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many police officers serving in the Metropolitan Police have been disciplined for concealing shoulder numbers in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: These data are not held by the Home Office. The Metropolitan Police Service may be able to provide such information.
	The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is responsible for the collation and annual publication of police complaints and discipline statistics. However, these statistics are not broken down to the level of detail requested.

National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department has allocated to the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit in each year since its inception.

Vernon Coaker: Funding to the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit is managed on the behalf of the Home Office by the Association of Chief Police Officers Terrorism and Allied Matters (ACPO TAM). We do not disclose details of grants provided to individual units on security grounds.

Offenders: Deportation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on private contractors for escorted deportations in 2008.

Phil Woolas: The value of contracts between the UK Border Agency and its escorting suppliers is commercially sensitive and cannot therefore be disclosed.

Police: Conduct

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving police officers in each police force area have  (a) been subject to criminal proceedings,  (b) been suspended from duty and  (c) received written warnings for (i) misuse of the Police National Computer and (ii) other data protection offences in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not receive or collect such information. These are issues for individual forces.

Police: Costs

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the cost of policing  (a) late alcohol licences and  (b) football matches in each of the next six financial years.

Vernon Coaker: This information is not held centrally. Deployment of local policing resources is a matter for the chief constable and police authority to determine in light of local circumstances and operational priorities.

Police: Finance

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the budget of each police force in Wales was derived from central Government funding in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Proportion of budget derived from general grant 1997 to 2009 
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000 
			  Police authority  General grant( 1)  (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1, 2)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%) 
			 Dyfed-Powys 42.07 49.95 84.2 42.39 51.78 81.9 43.07 55.72 77.3 
			 Gwent 56.50 64.56 87.5 58.23 66.93 87.0 60.67 71.41 84.9 
			 North Wales 60.80 71.30 85.3 61.46 73.91 83.1 63.84 79.55 80.2 
			 South Wales 137.31 155.44 88.3 141.02 161.13 87.5 143.80 169.97 84.6 
			   
			 Wales 296.67 341.25 86.9 303.09 353.76 85.7 311.38 376.65 82.7 
		
	
	
		
			   2000-01  2001-02  2001-02 Adjusted report 
			  Police authority  General grant( 1)  (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%) 
			 Dyfed-Powys 44.08 59.03 74.7 46.83 62.88 74.5 46.33 62.88 73.7 
			 Gwent 62.47 76.14 82.1 65.23 80.68 80.9 64.38 80.68 79.8 
			 North Wales 65.23 84.02 77.6 69.41 89.45 77.6 68.59 89.45 76.7 
			 South Wales 146.57 179.08 81.8 154.14 188.94 81.6 152.03 188.94 80.5 
			   
			 Wales 318.34 398.26 79.9 335.61 421.95 79.5 331.33 421.95 78.5 
		
	
	
		
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			  Police authority  General grant( 1)  (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1. £)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1, 3)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%) 
			 Dyfed-Powys 47.84 65.33 73.2 49.30 71.23 69.2 50.89 77.01 66.1 
			 Gwent 66.74 84.39 79.1 69.55 91.97 75.6 71.82 98.19 73.1 
			 North Wales 70.19 93.46 75.1 73.33 104.64 70.1 77.28 115.24 67.1 
			 South Wales 158.27 195.01 81.2 163.01 201.01 81.1 168.23 216.62 77.7 
			   
			 Wales 343.03 438.18 78.3 355.20 468.86 75.8 368.21 507.06 72.6 
		
	
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Police authority  General grant( 1, 3, 4, 5)  (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1, 3, 6)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1, 3)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%) 
			 Dyfed-Powys 48.53 80.28 60.5 50.07 79.89 62.7 51.83 83.64 62.0 
			 Gwent 73.05 102.31 71.4 75.34 106.05 71.0 78.68 110.67 71.1 
			 North Wales 70.96 120.68 58.8 73.18 118.68 61.7 76.31 124.80 61.1 
			 South Wales 161.00 227.44 70.8 166.27 222.65 74.7 172.16 232.10 74.2 
			   
			 Wales 353.54 530.70 66.6 364.86 527.27 69.2 378.99 551.21 68.8 
		
	
	
		
			   2008-09  2009-10 
			  Police authority  General grant( 1, 3)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%)  General grant( 1, 3,)( ) (£ million)  Budget requirement  (£ million)  Proportion  of budget met by general grant (%) 
			 Dyfed-Powys 53.10 86.96 61.1 55.06 90.18 61.1 
			 Gwent 80.60 114.30 70.5 83.56 117.85 70.9 
			 North Wales 78.18 129.42 60.4 81.04 134.13 60.4 
			 South Wales 176.70 240.30 73.5 178.99 248.47 72.0 
			
			 Wales 388.58 570.98 68.1 398.65 590.63 67.5 
			 (1) General grant comprises: Home Office police grant and Welsh Assembly Government revenue support grant and national non-domestic rates. (2) Adjusted for NCS and NCIS. (3) Home Office payment for 'floor' support included in general grant. (4) General grant adjusted due to Amending Report. (5) 2004-05 figures not directly comparable following the removal of PFI funding out of RSG. (6) Transfer of pensions and security funding from general grant in 2006-07.

Police: Leyton

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been provided to the Metropolitan Police in Leyton and Wanstead constituency in each of the last five years; and what initiatives have been introduced by the police in the constituency in each of those years.

Vernon Coaker: The Government allocate funding to police authorities as a whole. The allocation of resources and the management of the police estate in Leyton and Wanstead constituency is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
	The information requested on what initiatives have been introduced by the police in the constituency is not held centrally.

Police: Manpower

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) special constables there were in each year since 1997-98 and  (b) community support officers there were in each year since the establishment of the post (i) in England and Wales and (ii) in each police force.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Police Service Strength, England and Wales". The bulletins are available in the Library of the House, and can be downloaded from the publications link within the Research Development and Statistics directorate website located at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pubsstatistical.html

Proscribed Organisations

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which date each organisation proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 was so proscribed; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: A total of 59 groups are proscribed under schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000. This includes 45 international terrorist organisations and 14 groups connected to the affairs of Northern Ireland.
	On the Terrorist Act receiving Royal Assent on 20 July 2000, 14 organisations connected to the affairs of Northern Ireland were listed under schedule 2; these organisations were until that point proscribed under previous legislation either with effect in Northern Ireland only, or, in respect of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army, with effect in the whole of the UK. The organisations are:
	The Irish Republican Army
	Cumann nam Ban
	Fianna nah Eireann
	The Red Hand Commando
	Saor Eire
	The Ulster Freedom Fighters
	The Ulster Volunteer Force
	The Irish National Liberation Army
	The Irish People's Liberation Organisation
	The Ulster Defence Association
	The Loyalist Volunteer Force
	The Continuity Army Council
	The Orange Volunteers
	The Red Hand Defenders
	Proscription orders since 2000:
	 Coming into force 29 March 2001
	al-Qaeda
	Egyptian Islamic Jihad
	Al-Gama'at al-Islamiya
	Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armée) (GIA)
	Salafist Group for Call and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat)
	Babbar Khalsa
	International Sikh Youth Federation
	Harakat Mujahideen
	Jaish e Mohammed
	Lashkar e Tayyaba
	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
	Hizballah External Security Organisation Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades
	Palestinian Islamic Jihad—Shaqaqi
	Abu Nidal Organisation
	Islamic Army of Aden
	Mujaheddin e Khalq
	Kurdistan Workers' Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) (PKK) (alternative names Kongra-Gele Kurdistan and KADEK added in 2006)
	Revolutionary Peoples' Liberation Party—Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi)
	Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA)
	17 November Revolutionary Organisation (N17)
	 Coming into force on  1 November 2002:
	Abu Sayyaf Group
	Asbat Al-Ansar
	Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
	Jemaah Islamiyah
	 Coming into force on 14 October 2005:
	Al Ittihad Al Islamia
	Ansar Al Islam
	Ansar Al Sunna
	Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain
	Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami
	Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami (Bangladesh)
	Harakat-ul-Mujahideen/Alami
	Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin
	Islamic Jihad Union
	Jamaat ul-Furquan
	Jundallah
	Khuddam ul-Islam
	Lashkar-e Jhangvi
	Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
	Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan
	 Coming into force on 26 July 2006:
	Al Ghurabaa
	The Saved Sect
	Baluchistan Liberation Army
	Teyrebaz Azadiye Kurdistan
	 Coming into force on 25 July 2007:
	Jammat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh
	Tehrik Nefaz-e Shari'at Muhammadi
	Mujaheddin e Khalq was removed from the proscribed list on 24 June 2008.
	The following entry
	"The military wing of Hizballah, including the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it (including the Hizballah External Security Organisation)"
	was substituted for the entry
	"Hizballah External Security Organisation"
	with effect from 18 July 2008.

Proscribed Organisations

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which date each organisation that has been removed from the proscription list under the Terrorism Act 2000 was removed; what the reasons for the removal were in each case; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Mujaheddin e Khalq, also known as the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), is the only organisation to have been removed from the list of proscribed organisations. The Order proscribing the organisation came into force on 24 June 2008 following rulings from the Court of Appeal and the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) that the organisation was no longer concerned in terrorism as set out in the Terrorism Act 2000.

Racial Discrimination: Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Minister in her Department has policy responsibility for tackling racism on the internet; what funds her Department has allocated to tackling racism on the internet in 2009-10; what steps are being taken to tackle  (a) racism and  (b) anti-Semitic hate on the internet.

Vernon Coaker: I am responsible for tackling hate crime on the internet. This includes racism on the internet. In February 2009 a ministerial seminar met to discuss how to more effectively tackle hate crime on the internet, including anti-Semitic hate crime. Work following this meeting is ongoing with officials currently researching options and costings on how best to tackle internet hate crime. Consideration will be given to the costed proposals in due course.

Reparation by Offenders: Publicity

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on its advertising campaign Justice Seen, Justice Done to date.

Vernon Coaker: The Justice Seen Justice Done Campaign comprised two elements—communications about the new Policing Pledge and communications about Community Payback.
	The total media spend on the Policing Pledge campaign was £3,427,521.The total media spend on the Community Payback campaign was £621,266.

Sexual Offences

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) complaints and  (b) items of correspondence (i) her Department and (ii) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has received in respect of historical investigations of allegations of sex abuse in each year since 2001.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold this information.

Stop and Search: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals were found to be carrying illegal  (a) weapons and  (b) drugs during stop and search procedures by the police in (i) West Chelmsford constituency and (ii) Essex in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: Information on the number of arrests arising from stop and search procedures for illegal weapons and drugs in Essex police force area from 1998-99 to 2007-08 (latest available) is provided in the table.
	The information reported to the Home Office on searches is broken down at police force area level only and cannot separately identify arrests resulting from searches conducted in the West Chelmsford constituency area.
	
		
			  Number of persons arrested for the possession of offensive weapons and drugs after stop and search procedures by police in Essex police force area, 1998-99 — 2007-08 
			   Stops and searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984  Searches in anticipation of violence under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 
			   Arrests for offensive weapons  Arrests for drugs  Number of arrests for possession of offensive weapons or dangerous instruments 
			 1998-99 55 491 — 
			 1999-2000 76 354 — 
			 2000-01 73 408 — 
			 2001-02 90 308 — 
			 2002-03 97 339 — 
			 2003-04 91 300 1 
			 2004-05 127 309 3 
			 2005-06 118 286 1 
			 2006-07 109 270 — 
			 2007-08 133 432 2 
			  Note:  Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Telecommunications: Databases

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the annual cost to businesses of implementation of her proposals to retain email and web information on customers.

Vernon Coaker: Current legislation, the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument 2009/859), provides that the Secretary of State may, subject to prior agreement, reimburse any expenses incurred by a public communications provider in complying with the regulations for retention of communications data. On 27 April the Home Secretary published a consultation paper, "Protecting the Public in a Changing Communications Environment" seeking views on options for maintaining the capability of law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies to obtain communications data to protect the public.
	The paper outlines that high level initial estimates of the cost of the options are in the range of up to £2 billion over a 10 year period. The Government are actively seeking the views of business on the proposed options to help meet its Better Regulation commitments to minimise their impact on business.

Territorial Support Group: Complaints

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many complaints were received against officers of the Territorial Support Group in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and how many such complaints have been received in 2009 to date;
	(2)  how many allegations of assault were made against officers of the Territorial Support Group in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009 to date; and of these, how many were (i) upheld, (ii) allegations of assaults against ethnic minorities and (iii) allegations of assaults against women.

Vernon Coaker: These data are not held by the Home Office. The Metropolitan Police Service may be able to provide such information.
	The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is responsible for collecting the general complaint statistics that are published annually. However, these statistics are not broken down to the specific policing duty area where the officer works.

Terrorism: Anthrax

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the level of risk of anthrax infection to workers in Government Department postal sections arising from the terrorist action; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what guidance her Department has given to companies on the vaccination of key workers against anthrax infection arising from terrorist action;
	(3)  whether personnel in the 18 chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear preparedness centres planned in the Government's Contest counter-terrorism strategy will be vaccinated against anthrax infection;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the likely effects on public health of the release of anthrax spores on a platform at a deep-level London Underground station serving multiple Underground lines; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  which manufacturers of vaccines against anthrax are represented on  (a) the security and resilience suppliers community (RISC) and  (b) the RISC chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear industry advisory group;
	(6)  what steps her Department took following the spreading of anthrax contamination by postal means in the US in 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: From 2001, and following the anthrax incidents in the United States of America, the United Kingdom's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Resilience programme has provided the framework for comprehensive planning and preparation for dealing with the possible consequences of a CBRN attack. In addition, the Government's wider Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST) deals, among other things, with all aspects of protection to the public, including security advice to the private sector. While for security reasons it would be inappropriate to detail all aspects of such planning, the Government's approach is to prevent terrorists from obtaining or using hazardous materials; to put in place safeguards to protect the public, public places or critical national infrastructure from such attacks; and to ensure that measures are in place to reduce the impact of any such attack should it occur. The Health and Safety Executive has, for example, produced guidance on "Biological/Chemical Threats by Post" and general advice to businesses is provided by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure.
	With regard to anthrax vaccine, the Health Protection Agency is the sole manufacturer of the UK's licensed anthrax vaccine. The vaccine is manufactured for and on behalf of the UK Government. As a public body, the HPA is not a member of RISC. Routine vaccination against anthrax is generally used only to protect individuals who may be exposed to anthrax in the workplace (for example working with animal hides).

Terrorism: Arrests

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) arrests,  (b) prosecutions and  (c) convictions have been made under the (i) Terrorism Act 2000 and (ii) Terrorism Act 2006 in each year since their implementation.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not currently available.
	The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General's Office are currently working with the National Coordinator for Terrorist Investigations to improve the quality of data on arrests and convictions under terrorist legislation and other related legislation. As soon as this is complete a statistical bulletin to cover information on arrests and convictions will be published.

Terrorism: Convictions

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of indictments on charges of terrorism has resulted in convictions in the last two years.

Vernon Coaker: The information required will be contained in the Statistical Bulletin on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes which is due to be published shortly. The data contained in the Statistical Bulletin are recorded up until 31 March 2008.
	Statistics for 2008-09 are expected to be published in late 2009.

Terrorism: Crime Prevention

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional training is proposed for employees of  (a) civil nuclear facilities, including research laboratories, and  (b) military bases in support of the resilience strategy set out in the report, "The United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering International Terrorism".

Vernon Coaker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Ministry of Defence are among the wide range of stakeholders involved in the delivery of the strategy for countering international terrorism, including work to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack and to recover from its aftermath. Civil nuclear installations in the UK operate within a strict regulatory regime. Robust emergency plans are in place to ensure an effective response in the event of an emergency at a civil nuclear site. These plans are subject to regular exercise and review. We do not comment on the arrangements for security of military facilities for obvious reasons.

Theft: Motor Vehicles

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many thefts from vehicles were recorded in Staffordshire Police Authority area in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many incidents of vehicle crime were recorded in Staffordshire in each year since 2005.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the table.
	
		
			  Numbers of offences against vehicles recorded in the Staffordshire police force area 
			  Offence  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle 3,995 3,245 3,226 3,075 2,596 
			 Aggravated vehicle taking 214 225 185 160 150 
			 Theft from vehicle 9,576 7,800 7,646 7,682 6,826 
			 Interfering with a motor vehicle 2,145 1,791 1,755 1,576 1,237 
			 Total offences against vehicles 15,930 13,061 12,812 12,493 10,809

Theft: Motor Vehicles

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to reduce the incidence of vehicle crime in rural areas since 2005.

Vernon Coaker: The Government are committed to ensuring that the response to motor vehicle and other motor vehicle enabled crime is as effective as possible.
	Crime and disorder reduction partnerships and Community safety partnerships are required to prioritise the crime types and problems of most concern locally based on a robust strategic assessment. This involves an appropriately differentiated approach between areas.
	Total recorded offences against vehicles fell by 20 per cent. between 2004-05 and 2007-08.
	We also know from British crime survey statistics published in July 2008 that theft of vehicles fell by over 21 per cent. from 2005-06 to 2007-08, and that theft from vehicles fell by over 14 per cent. over the same period.
	66 per cent. of vehicle crime involves theft from vehicles, and this is being tackled through local crime prevention initiatives such as reminding drivers about leaving items visible in vehicles.
	Success in the reduction of theft of vehicles has been achieved, in part, through successful problem solving—particularly in reducing repeat victimisation and improved vehicle security which has been achieved by partnership working between the Government, motor manufacturers and insurers.
	British crime survey statistics consistently show that crime is lower in rural areas. The following table shows the percentage of households in each area type that were victims of vehicle related thefts:
	
		
			  Vehicle crime 
			  Percentage 
			   Urban  Rural 
			 2005-06 8.3 4.3 
			 2006-07 8.3 4.6 
			 2007-08 7.2 3.7

Vehicle Number Plates

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions have been brought for offences related to  (a) speeding,  (b) jumping red lights and  (c) stolen vehicles as a result of the use of automatic number plate recognition technology in each police force area in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: Automatic Number Plate Recognition is now in regular use in all aspects of operational policing. Records relating to the number of successful prosecutions as a result of the use of this technology are not held centrally.

Vehicle Number Plates

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which  (a) individuals,  (b) private businesses and  (c) public authorities are able to access data collated by automatic number plate recognition systems operated by police forces.

Vernon Coaker: The handling of ANPR data by police forces is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, and any requests for access would be considered within that context.
	 (a) Individuals have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces.
	 (b) Private businesses have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces.
	 (c) Public authorities have no specific right to access data collated by ANPR systems operated by police forces. However, some local authority CCTV control rooms have the provision to be alerted to ANPR hits to enable efficient operation of CCTV cameras. In such circumstances, the reason for the interest in the vehicle is not shared with the control room. Local authorities have—by agreement with the police—the ability to alert police to a vehicle.

Vehicle Number Plates

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what period of time police forces are allowed to retain data acquired via automatic number plate recognition systems.

Vernon Coaker: Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data are, in general, retained for the first 90 days after collection, for viewing by authorised persons for post-crime interrogation and investigation. This enables investigations to use the ANPR tool to identify suspects, witnesses or patterns.
	Some data maybe retained for up to two years, however, these data are partitioned from general viewing. A senior officer (superintendent or above) must authorise any access to data older than 90 days. This authorisation is restricted to serious crime and counter-terrorism investigations only.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers is currently revising its guidance around data retention.

Vehicle Number Plates

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation governs the operation of automatic number plate recognition systems by police forces.

Vernon Coaker: In their usage of Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems, police are bound by the provisions of legislation including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 247959, on loss of departmental property, tabled on 12 January 2009.

Phil Woolas: Question 247959 was answered on 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 160W.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Adoption: British Overseas Territories

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make it his policy to apply The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to all overseas territories.

Beverley Hughes: For the Hague convention to be extended to any overseas territory, that territory must have the necessary legislation for implementing the convention in place. The 'overseas territories' are self-governing and our position is that implementation of the convention is a matter for them. Should an overseas territory wish to implement the convention, then we could extend the convention to that territory once the necessary legislation was in place.
	We would encourage all countries to implement the Hague convention to protect the best interests of children in intercountry adoptions.

Children in Care

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of grandparents and other family members in England who are  (a) family and friends carers but not foster carers and  (b) family and friends foster carers.

Beverley Hughes: One of the key principles of the Children Act 1989 is that children should be cared for by their families where this is consistent with the child's welfare.
	Where a child needs to be looked after by the state, local authorities are required to consider the potential benefits of a placement with family and friends before all other options. A family or friend who has a child placed with them by the local authority must become an approved foster carer. The number of foster carers who are related to the child placed with them is not collected centrally. However, information collected in the SSDA903 return from local authorities shows that the number of looked after children at 31 March 2008 in a foster placement with a relative or friend is 6,900.
	Family and friends caring for children who are not looked after by the state are a very broad group. Some will be caring for the child as a private family arrangement with the child's parents, where state intervention will not necessarily be appropriate and the child and their carers may not be known to the local authority.
	If a child being cared for by a family or friend is assessed as being in need, the local authority may provide support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 ("the Act") in order to promote their upbringing by their family. The number of families receiving support under section 17 of the Act is not collected centrally.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in care in 2008 had had more than  (a) 60,  (b) 70,  (c) 80,  (d) 90 and  (e) 100 foster placements while in care.

Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 3 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1055-58W.
	The response showed that there were no children looked after in 2008 that had more than 30 foster placements. This means that there were also no children looked after in 2008 that had more than  (a) 60,  (b) 70,  (c) 80,  (d) 90 and  (e) 100 foster placements while in care.

Children in Care

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in council care homes subsequently moved into private housing in  (a) Leeds West constituency,  (b) the Leeds metropolitan area and  (c) England in the last five years.

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of looked after children in private housing is not collected centrally by the Department.
	However information on the number of looked after children placed in homes is available from tables A3 and LAA2 in the Statistical First Release entitled 'Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008', which is located at
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml
	Table A3 (national level) can be found within the 1st set of national tables and table LAA2 (local authority level) can be found within the first set of additional tables.

Children: Databases

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  which local authorities have not completed the first phase of implementation of the ContactPoint database; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects the ContactPoint database to be fully operational; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: We are taking a prudent and incremental approach to ContactPoint delivery. Local authorities provided a progress update on their shielding activity 13 March, which included whether they had robust arrangements in place to deal with shielding requests on an ongoing basis. Two thirds of local authorities confirmed that they had completed the required shielding actions. We are aware of a number of issues raised by local authorities and are working closely with them to address these issues.
	The Secretary of State will provide an update to Parliament in the spring about progress towards being fully operational.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 233W, on children: databases, if he will place in the Library a copy of each letter and email.

Beverley Hughes: These documents form part of the normal and ongoing implementation process between my Department and the local authorities. A considerable amount of time and money, both centrally and locally would be required to ensure that they did not include material that:
	was provided in confidence;
	identified individuals;
	was commercially or technically sensitive.
	I believe to make these documents available would inhibit the free and frank exchange of views which is critical to the success of projects of this nature, and therefore they will not be published.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities have raised concerns with his Department about tracing co-resident children in ContactPoint; and what concerns each such authority has raised.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 27 April 2009
	ContactPoint's prime objective is to identify who else is working with a child, not to trace all other children in a particular location.
	Three local authorities have provided feedback that the functionality to locate co-resident children, in some cases has not shown any records to the user. This is because, in these cases, the number of children that the system identifies as potentially co-resident is in excess of limits on ContactPoint that are in place to prevent trawling.
	We are, as with all feedback received, during this learning phase, evaluating it; and any identified improvements will be considered for implementation.
	These responses were sent in confidence and as part of the normal, ongoing discussion between the Department and the local authorities; and as part of the implementation process of the project.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent assessment is of the performance of the ContactPoint database in penetration tests.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 30 April 2009
	ContactPoint has undergone security penetration testing in accordance with Government policy for the assurance and risk management of information assets. The findings of all penetration tests have been appropriately addressed.
	While it is not appropriate to report externally on the detail of these tests, periodic penetration testing of ContactPoint is a key element of the framework of measures that provide the required assurance that an appropriate level of security has been established and is being maintained for the system.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will publish anonymised versions of the full serious case reviews into the deaths in Doncaster of  (a) Alfie Goddard,  (b) Child A,  (c) Child AO6 and (d) Child BO5.

Beverley Hughes: Paragraph 8.33 of 'Working Together To Safeguard Children' 2006 states that
	"in all cases, the LSCB overview report should contain an executive summary that will be made public and that includes, as a minimum, information about the review process, key issues arising from the case and the recommendations that have been made."
	Executive summaries are available on the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board website in respect of Child A, Child A06 and Child B05. The executive summary for AG has not yet been published.

Children: Protection

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the effect on child protection of proposed reductions in funding for legally-aided family cases.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 30 April 2009
	The Government are fully committed to safeguarding vulnerable children and I am clear that it is important we secure the right level of support for these children within the family justice system. Officials from the Department, the Legal Services Commission (LSC), the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) have already had discussions about how to achieve this. Further discussions are planned in the light of the consultation responses, following the MOJ/LSC consultation on Family Legal Aid Funding 2010.

Children: Protection

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he plans to publish the Missing from Home and Care guidance; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The draft version of the revised Missing from Home and Care guidance was published on the DCSF website for public consultation in January 2009 and consultation events were held in York, Manchester and London in February. The consultation came to an end in April 2009 and my officials are working closely with a group of experts, including members of the English Coalition for Runaway Children, to amend the guidance as a result of the responses received.
	I anticipate that the guidance will be published in electronic form in mid to late June. When the outcomes of the review into emergency accommodation provision are known, we will consider the implications on our statutory guidance to local authorities in this area and revise this section of the guidance accordingly. The guidance will then be published in hard copy towards the end of the year.
	By publishing the guidance in electronic form in June, local authorities will be able to use it to help them implement the requirements of National Indicator 71—"Missing from Home and Care".

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to page 66 of "The Protection of Children in England: a progress report", HC330, what recent estimate he has made of vacancy rates within child protection teams.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on the vacancy rates within child protection teams is not recorded centrally. It is for individual chief constables to assess their own staffing priorities and decide how best to address the vacancy rates within child protection teams.
	The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families intends to publish a detailed action plan in response to Lord Laming's recommendations on 6 May 2009.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what indicators his Department uses to monitor the performance of local safeguarding children boards; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what safeguards exist to ensure  (a) openness and  (b) fairness in the operation of local safeguarding children boards; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a similar question on 31 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1131W.
	Local Safeguarding Children Boards' (LSCBs) compliance and effectiveness in their statutory role to develop policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is monitored by local authority scrutiny, through peer review based on self-evaluation, performance indicators and joint audit and through the judgments made by inspectorates. The work of LSCBs has to be planned properly and fit within a framework of action set out in the Children and Young People's Plan.
	Ofsted assesses and inspects local authority area level services for children, including the effectiveness of the LSCB. It has done so through annual performance assessments (APAs) and joint area reviews (JARs) of children's services. From April 2009 it will do so, with other inspectorates, as part of new arrangements for comprehensive area assessment (CAA). There will also be a three yearly cycle of inspections specifically of safeguarding and services for looked after children, undertaken by Ofsted and the new Care Quality Commission.
	In his recent report, 'The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report', Lord Laming states that
	"Despite Local Safeguarding Children Boards being relatively new, they are already having a positive impact on services for protecting children. Ofsted published 21 Joint Area Reviews of children's services between April to June 2008 and in 18 of those they reported that LSCBs are already making a significant positive difference to their local services."
	Lord Laming's report makes a number of recommendations designed to strengthen further the positive impact of LSCBs. The Government have accepted Lord Laming's recommendations and set out in their immediate response, published on 12 March, how we will strengthen the role of the LSCB so that they challenge every member of the Children's Trust, through the Children's Trust Board, on their success in ensuring that children and young people are kept safe. The LSCB should also publish an annual report on the effectiveness of arrangements locally for keeping children safe, as recommended by Lord Laming.
	The Government will publish a detailed response to all Lord Laming's recommendations on 6 May 2009.

Schools: Influenza

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of schools with the capacity to provide education remotely in the event of school closure necessitated by a flu pandemic;
	(2)  what guidance his Department has issued to schools on contingency preparations for a flu pandemic;
	(3)  what scientific advice the Government have received on the appropriate time to issue advice to schools on closures in the event of a pandemic;
	(4)  what provisions he plans to make to support students with special educational needs in the event of school closures owing to a pandemic;
	(5)  what steps he has taken to ensure that schools have stocks of  (a) personal protective equipment and  (b) personal cleansing materials necessary in the event of an influenza pandemic;
	(6)  what steps he plans to take to keep schools informed of the levels of infection in their areas in the event of an influenza pandemic;
	(7)  what guidance he has issued to schools on measures to ensure that children are able to make up learning forgone because of school closures during any pandemic.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department issued guidance in 2006 on contingency measures for pandemic flu, which we supplemented with guidance on infection control (2007) and remote learning in the event of a school closing for an extended period (2008). The Department sent out reminders in the week commencing 27 April 2009 that the guidance is available. We also drew the attention of local authorities, schools and others to the raising of the World Health Organisation's level of alert to phase 5 and the increased urgency for existing plans to be reviewed, drawing on the Department's guidance. The Department issued a note to schools and local authorities on 5 May 2009, which included a comprehensive brief on issues of interest to the education sector.
	The pandemic flu and infection control guidance were informed by advice from the Health Protection Agency. Local authorities have a responsibility for vulnerable children in their area and they must plan to ensure that essential services can operate for the provision of education for all children including those with special educational needs. Our guidance on infection control includes advice on the use and disposal of personal protection equipment and clothes and the use of cleansing materials. It is for schools and local agencies to liaise on making these available.
	The Department has set out in its guidance to schools and children's services on planning for a human influenza pandemic, the communication channels through which it would communicate any decisions that schools should close or re-open.
	The remote learning guidance referred to above aims to help the provision of ongoing education in the event of a school not being able to open. It is our belief that this will lessen the impact on pupils' learning because their school is closed due to pandemic flu.

Schools: Sports

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding from  (a) the public purse and  (b) the National Lottery has been spent on school sport in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the last five years from 2004-05 to 2008-09, a total of £1.134 billion has been spent on PE and school sport via the Exchequer. A further £679.8 million has been spent on school sports programmes via the Big Lottery Fund. These programmes include PE and Sport in Schools, Spaces for Sports and Arts and School Sports Co-ordinators. Awards have also been made to projects that have contributed to school sports through other Big Lottery Fund grant programmes including Community Sports programmes, Football Foundation, Awards for All and Reaching Communities. School sport also benefits from awards from the four home country sports lottery distributing bodies.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's policy is on the criteria for access to international funding for the purposes of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 23 March 2009
	The Bali Action Plan (2007) calls for consideration of policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries. This is in addition to the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. The UK supported the commitment that the needs of local communities and indigenous people will be addressed when action is taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and recognised the relevant provisions of other international agreements such as the convention on biological diversity (CBD) to support the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
	Any payment for mitigation is expected to be paid post carbon saved. Consequently an agreement on baselines and a reliable framework for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) is needed to ensure the integrity and credibility of REDD efforts. This needs to take into account national, sub-national and sector and project level MRV.
	However there is an understanding that finance is needed for up-front investment and capacity building costs. We expect that such funding will take into account, as with existing funds, country preparedness and ability—institutional and otherwise—to undertake REDD initiatives, taking into account Government efforts to date and Government willingness to move to a strategic approach to REDD and to integrate the role of forests into development.

Carbon Emissions

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will introduce the proposed pay as you save initiative in advance of 2013.

Mike O'Brien: The Government are currently consulting on options to encourage householders to install energy saving and renewable technologies by providing financial mechanisms which spread the costs of these measures over time, so that the costs are more than offset by savings on bills. The consultation, which also covers the broader heat and energy saving strategy, closes on 8 May and we encourage stakeholders to send in their views.

Housing: Standards

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the introduction of the PassivHaus standard; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions regarding the introduction of the 'PassivHaus' standard with ministerial colleagues. Issues regarding the energy efficiency of new builds fall within the remit of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Insulation: Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1128-9W, on insulation: housing, how many homes have been insulated since the commencement of the heat and energy saving strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy (HESS) consultation, published on 12 February, seeks views on our long-term strategy to deliver energy and carbon savings through the next decade and beyond. In particular, the package of policies under consideration aims to ensure we are capable of living within our proposed carbon budgets during the period to 2022, and that we can achieve our target to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. by 2050. We aim to publish a finalised strategy by the end of the year.
	In the meantime, our existing package of policies, including the carbon emissions reduction target (CERT); the Warm Front scheme; and the Decent Homes programme, is continuing to roll-out insulation measures to GB homes. We estimate that well over 1 million homes have been insulated in the last 12 months under these schemes.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what timescale Ofgem requires to assess the suitability of renewable heating products for funding through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target programme; and what the  (a) maximum and  (b) minimum time taken between an initial application to Ofgem and the successful accreditation of a new product has been.

Joan Ruddock: Ofgem advises that if all required information is provided at the time of submission it may take around a month to assess and approve the proposal. However, if a piece of information is missing, for example details of the seasonal coefficient of performance (CoP) which may need to be monitored for six months via a trial, assessing such an activity may take significantly longer, even up to a year.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what procedures Ofgem uses to assess the suitability of renewable heating products for funding through programmes associated with the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: Ofgem assesses renewable heating products in a number of ways as different types of information are required to demonstrate compliance with the CERT obligation.
	Manufacturers of heat pumps are required to demonstrate a seasonal coefficient of performance (CoP) of the units and the percentage of heat load they provide. If the seasonal CoP is not known then a field trial on 10 installations is required. For each installation, the energy supplier is required to confirm which fuel has been displaced as a result of the installation and the type of supplementary heating used if need be. This allows Ofgem to estimate how much carbon each installation saves using a methodology developed for this purpose.
	Ofgem requires that between 3 and 4m(2) of solar water heating panelling (evacuated tube and flat plate respectively) is installed per property, which is calculated to be an appropriate size for each property type.
	Installation of the domestic biomass boilers must meet the standards outlined in the guidance to the Building Regulations.
	Each of these domestic renewable technologies above and installers of these technologies is required to be accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) or equivalent to ensure the quality of the technology and installation. This means that each technology promoted through CERT must comply with the standards specified by the MCS. In addition, each installer is recommended to be registered by the REAL Assurance Scheme.
	Evaluation of each communal biomass boiler installation is assessed on a case by case basis. The supplier is required to provide: the existing site heat demand, type of heating system (fuel and system efficiency), information about the biomass boiler including its seasonal efficiency, type of wood and its calorific value and moisture content, annual fuel supply and details of the back-up system. Suppliers are also required to check whether an installation may take place in a smoke control area in which case only exempted appliances may be used.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Audio Recordings: Licensing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of catalogued lists kept by  (a) PPL and  (b) the Performing Right Society of (i) featured and (ii) non-featured artists on sound recordings produced between 1950 and 1970.

David Lammy: No such assessment has been made.

Audio Recordings: Licensing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what representations he has received from  (a) the Radio Centre and  (b) representatives of business organisations on Performing Right Society (PRS) public performance licences for radios in the workplace; what recent representations he has received from businesses which have ceased to used radios in the workplace because of PRS licensing requirements; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: My officials met Radio Centre on 23 April this year following a general stakeholder meeting on 20 March, correspondence from Radio Centre dated 2 February, a meeting in November 2008 and Radio Centre's response to the Intellectual Property Office's consultation on changes to exemptions from public performance rights in sound recordings and performers' rights dated October 2008.
	We have received a number of representations from businesses about the PRS licence for workplace radio listening, many of which say they are considering ceasing to use the radio.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report.

Si�n Simon: The Department's building services are provided through the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), which manage the buildings that DIUS occupies.
	The National Measures Office (NMO) occupies space in Teddington that is owned by DIUS but managed by the NMO.
	All of these organisations are currently in the process of scheduling in the works required to satisfy the regulations. The inspection results will be placed in the Libraries.

Higher Education: Admissions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether a financial penalty will be imposed on higher education institutions for over-recruitment against the admission figures prescribed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for 2009-10; and whether universities which made offers to their applicants prior to 15 January 2009 will be treated differently to institutions which made offers after that date.

David Lammy: We are determined to maintain arrangements both for the funding of institutions and support for students that meet needs but are at the same time sustainable. If universities over-recruit, these objectives are jeopardised. We made this clear to institutions last October when we asked HEFCE to work up contingency measures that could be used to reduce the risk of institutions over recruiting. HEFCE reiterated this message in November when it asked institutions to review their planned recruitment for 2009/10. Our grant letter to HEFCE repeated this position by asking the Council to minimise and preferably eliminate over recruitment in 2009/10 and reinforced this by saying that any over-recruitment in the coming year could result in a transfer of HEFCE grant back to this Department, in order to meet the consequent unanticipated student support costs in that or future years.
	As we have been entirely consistent in signalling the particular importance of controlling over-recruitment, HEFCE will treat all institutions in the same way when responding here.

Higher Education: Veterinary Medicine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many students from  (a) England,  (b) Wales and  (c) outside the UK undertook university courses in veterinary studies in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The numbers of English, Welsh and non-UK domicile enrolments to veterinary science courses, in each of the last five years for which data are available, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  English, Welsh and non-UK( 1)  domicile enrolments( 2)  to veterinary science courses, UK higher education institutions( 3) , academic years 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			  Academic year  England  Wales  Non-UK 
			 2003/04 2,620 180 445 
			 2004/05 2,860 170 500 
			 2005/06 2,920 180 535 
			 2006/07 3,140 185 665 
			 2007/08 3,280 175 650 
			 (1) Includes EU and other overseas students. (2) Covers postgraduate and undergraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. (3) Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.  Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA Standard Registration Population (SRP). 2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he has taken to improve skills in the house-building sector in order to assist progress towards the Government's 2016 target for zero carbon homes.

Si�n Simon: There will be real challenges in responding to the skill needs of the house-building industry in the next few years. Through our continued investment in skills we want to support the house-building and wider construction industry so that they are ready for the upturn and have the skilled workforce required to meet the 2016 target and the demands of a low carbon economy.
	The Zero Carbon Hub, established by the Department for Communities and Local Government, aims to ensure that industry can work with Government and other stakeholders to overcome any barriers to delivery. The skills and training strand of this work will establish the industry's current level of knowledge about building to low and zero carbon home standards, and determine any areas where additional skills and training are required and which agencies are best placed to support this. The Homes and Community Agency (HCA) has a parallel skills action plan, supported by DIUS, to ensure the development of sustainable communities.
	ConstructionSkills (the sector skills council for construction) are working with the Zero Carbon Hub, the HCA and the UK Green Building Council to understand the wider skills needs of sustainable construction. The results of this research will inform training development and the future shape of qualifications.
	Through the Sector Compact agreed with ConstructionSkills in June 2008, some 133 million of Train to Gain funding will be available over three years to support the priority skills needs of the construction sector including house-building. Compacts will be reviewed regularly to ensure they continue to meet the needs of employers in the sector in the light of the need for economic renewal and to address the new and emerging skills needs. We have also established an Apprenticeship Task Force with employers, trade unions, educationalists and Government to review the approach to apprenticeships within the sector, and how it might be expanded and improved.

Measurement

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 421-2W, on trading standards: weights and measures, what changes to enforcement guidance  (a) have been made and  (b) are being made in relation to the prosecution of traders using imperial scales by local authorities.

David Lammy: The information is as follows:
	 (a) None.
	 (b) Discussions are continuing between Government and the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) on the updating of LACORS' guidance on the enforcement of units of measurement legislation. This guidance will reflect an update to Directive 80/181/EEC and will be available to local authority trading standards departments in advance of the changes to UK law which will be implemented before the end of 2009.

Students: Loans

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many graduates of universities in England who have moved abroad to  (a) other EU member states and  (b) non-EU countries have informed the Student Loans Company of their change of status in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: In the five-year period 2003-04 to 2007-08, around 38,700 income-contingent loan borrowers notified the Student Loans Company (SLC) of a period of overseas residency. Annual statistics are not readily available. 35 per cent. of known overseas residences during that period were in EU countries, 65 per cent. were in non-EU countries.

Training: Energy

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the skills base of employees in the energy sector.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 24 April 2009
	Power is the number one industry for the future success of our economy. It currently has an ageing workforce and faces challenges including the asset renewal needed to meet the changing needs of a low carbon economy, and handling the impact of new technology. Energy and Utility Skills (EU Skills) is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) responsible for the energy sector, and its coverage includes the electricity and gas industries. In common with all SSCs, EU Skills has developed a Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) which identifies the sector's current and future skills needs. The SSA, which is UK wide, provides a clear platform for employers, training providers and other stakeholders to address the sector's skills needs.
	Government are directly supporting the industry through the creation of The National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) and the approval for a National Skills Academy for Power (NSAP), which is at the business planning stage.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force.

Jonathan R Shaw: The costs to DWP are included in the overall facilities price of the Department's private finance initiative contract. The cost to the Department's supplier, Telereal Trillium, to date is 67,000.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report.

Jonathan R Shaw: There are 234 air conditioning systems with an output of more than 250 kW. Of these 42 have been inspected by accredited energy assessors. The current programme of inspection is due to be completed by the end of July 2009. Copies of the energy assessors' reports, which are held by the Department's PFI service partner, Telereal Trillium, will be placed in the Library shortly.

Departmental ICT

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on IT maintenance in the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: Since 2005 the Department has had a realigned contract for IT services, which covers the provision of all IT, including maintenance. It is not possible to identify specific costs for IT maintenance.

EU Globalisation Fund

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will co-ordinate a UK bid for funds from the EU Globalisation Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: In England, (different arrangements apply in the devolved Administrations), Regional Development Agencies, with their partners, are responsible for coordinating an immediate response to large redundancies. They are aware of the availability of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) and would make the initial decision about whether a bid would add value to their response. The European Social Fund (ESF) has already been used to invest in Jobcentre Plus, its Rapid Response Service and Train to Gain, the combination of which have already proved to be effective in helping workers and areas affected by restructuring. The EGF must not duplicate use of the ESF but as long as any bid, that were to come forward to my Department, met the criteria, it would receive full consideration.

Hazardous Substances: Aviation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether aircraft  (a) static on the ground and  (b) travelling through UK airspace are subject to Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.

Jonathan R Shaw: Aircraft either static on the ground or travelling through UK airspace are subject to Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended).

Housing Benefit

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have claimed housing benefit at least once in  (a) the UK,  (b) the North East,  (c) the Tees Valley and  (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Kitty Ussher: Information is not available on the number of times people have claimed housing benefit.
	Housing benefit information is not available at constituency level.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of housing benefit recipients in Great Britain and the north-east 1997 to 2007 
			   Great Britain  North East 
			 August 1997 4,591,920 278,120 
			 August 1998 4,425,210 269,290 
			 August 1999 4,243,410 264,120 
			 August 2000 3,968,250 250,070 
			 August 2001 3,867,480 240,870 
			 August 2002 3,798,760 236,290 
			 August 2003 3,813,560 234,660 
			 August 2004 3,943,590 230,850 
			 August 2005 3,981,020 229,240 
			 August 2006 4,024,280 228,350 
			 August 2007 4,040,940 227,440 
			  Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 3. The totals for Great Britain include estimates for local authorities that have not responded. 4. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. 5. From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed HB/CTB data electronically from local authorities. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics. However, the new data have not yet been fully quality assured to National Statistics standards, the most recent summary statistics available are for August 2007.  Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 1997 to 2007.

Housing Benefit

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average amount claimed by a housing benefit recipient was in each of the last three years.

Kitty Ussher: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Average amount of housing benefit in each of the last three years for which figures are availableGreat Britain 2005-07 (weekly). 
			   Great Britain () 
			 August 2005 63.64 
			 August 2006 67.47 
			 August 2007 71.44 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 2. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. 3. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny. 4. From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed HB/CTB data electronically from local authorities. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics. However, until the new data have been fully quality assured to National Statistics standards, the most recent summary statistics available are for August 2007. 5. This information is available online at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbctb.asp.  Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 percent caseload stock-count taken in August 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Incapacity Benefit

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been removed from incapacity benefit because they do not have enough points to continue to qualify in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 22 April 2009
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  The number of incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance benefit terminations in the most recent 12 month period 
			   All  Other reasons  Failed either own occupation test or Personal Capability Assessment 
			 November 2007 175,600 145,900 29,100 
			 February 2008 163,500 134,200 28,900 
			 May 2008 170,600 139,000 31,100 
			 August 2008 172,600 134,800 37,200 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are subject to a high degree of sampling error and should only be used as a guide. 2. These figures have been updated to include late notified terminations. 3. Personal Capability Assessment was formerly the 'All Work Test'. 4. Due to operational procedures a small number of Personal Capability Assessment terminations appear in 'Other reasons'. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and total may not sum due to rounding.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate 5 per cent. terminations dataset

Income Support: Mortgages

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in North East Fife constituency have received assistance from his Department with the cost of meeting mortgage interest repayments in the last 12 months.

Kitty Ussher: Information on mortgage interest repayments is not available at constituency level.

Jobcentre Plus

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people have been helped into work by Jobcentre Plus in each  (a) regional and  (b) Jobcentre Plus district in each (i) year since its job outcome target was launched and (ii) of the last 24 months.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked the acting chief executive to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Ruth Owen:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many and what proportion of people have been helped into work by Jobcentre Plus in each (a) regional and (b) Jobcentre Plus district in (i) each year since its job outcome target was launched and (ii) each of the last 24 months. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mel Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. Mel Groves is currently on Annual Leave and I am replying in his absence.
	The Job Outcome target was introduced in April 2006. It measures the number of people who move into work after help from Jobcentre Plus or one of its partners. It uses HMRC tax data to identify job outcomes and awards points accordingly to the position of the customer in the labour market, allowing us to accord priority to those customers in most need of our help. It includes a broad range of customers, not just those who are unemployed. The type of support our customers require and indeed receive will vary depending on the individuals themselves. The latest data available is to August 2008.
	I have placed in the Library the available information regarding the annual and monthly performance of Jobcentre Plus against its Job Outcome Target broken down by region and district. The data reflects the number of people helped into work, not achievement against the Job Outcome Target which is points based.

Jobcentre Plus: Complaints

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what grounds formal complaints were made to Jobcentre Plus in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question 'on what grounds formal complaints were made to Jobcentre Plus in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement'. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus operates a three-level feedback process in response to issues raised by customers:
	Level 1feedback received by a specific business area that relates solely to Jobcentre Plus business;
	Level 2feedback received direct by a District Manager, or that relates to another business area, for example Local Authorities, or feedback not resolved at level 1; and
	Level 3feedback received direct by the Chief Executive, or feedback not resolved at level 2.
	Our customer complaints are then categorised according to the nature of the complaint.
	Servicese.g. advisory services, benefits, job broking;
	Standardse.g. waiting times, office environment, information quality; and
	Treatmente.g. equal treatment and helpfulness of staff.
	There are currently 48 sub categories which fall under the three standard headings. In the main these cover the primary benefits administered by Jobcentre Plus, staff behaviour and treatment of customers, Jobcentre Plus interventions, Jobcentre Plus programmes and job broking services.
	There was no centralised recording of level 1 and 2 complaints before April 2005. The current categories have been in place since then.

Jobcentre Plus: Manpower

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent customer-facing Jobcentre Plus staff there were on average in each  (a) region and  (b) Jobcentre Plus district since November 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves, 6 May 2009:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many full-time equivalent customer-facing Jobcentre Plus staff there were on average in each (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus district since November 2008. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The table below gives the average number of full-time equivalents for customer-facing Jobcentre Plus staff by Region and District between November 2008 and February 2009.
	
		
			  Government office region  District  Number 
			 East Midlands Derbyshire 1,288 
			  Leicestershire and Northamptonshire 1,073 
			  Lincolnshire and Rutland 577 
			  Nottinghamshire 1,095 
			 Total  4,033 
			 East of England Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 867 
			  Cambridgeshire and Suffolk 1,041 
			  Essex 1,227 
			  Norfolk 646 
			 Total  3,781 
			 London Central London 475 
			  City and East London 1,310 
			  Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth 889 
			  North and North East London 1,492 
			  South London 1,007 
			  West London 796 
			 Total  5,969 
			 North East Northumbria 1,291 
			  South Tyne and Wear Valley 1,153 
			  Tees Valley 1,203 
			 Total  3,647 
			 North West Cheshire and Warrington 485 
			  Cumbria 496 
			  Greater Manchester Central 1,191 
			  Greater Manchester East and West 2,445 
			  Greater Mersey 973 
			  Lancashire 1,685 
			  Liverpool and Wirral 1,750 
			  Not Known 58 
			 Total  9,082 
			 Scotland Ayrshire, Dumfries, Galloway and Inverclyde 903 
			  Edinburgh and Lothian and Borders 703 
			  Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside 1,151 
			  Glasgow 2,274 
			  Highland, Islands and Clyde Coast and Grampian 1,392 
			  Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire 751 
			 Total  7,174 
			 South East Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 852 
			  Hampshire 1,317 
			  Kent 1,363 
			  Surrey and Sussex 1,197 
			 Total  4,729 
			 South West Devon and Cornwall 1,624 
			  Dorset and Somerset 741 
			  Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon 668 
			  West of England 745 
			 Total  3,777 
			 Wales North and Mid Wales 1,132 
			  South East Wales 836 
			  South Wales Valleys 1,271 
			  South West Wales 871 
			 Total  4,110 
			 West Midlands Birmingham and Solihull 1,686 
			  Black Country 1,423 
			  Coventry and Warwickshire 619 
			  Staffordshire 979 
			  The Marches 956 
			 Total  5,663 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber North and East Yorkshire and The Humber 1,556 
			  South Yorkshire 1,698 
			  West Yorkshire 2,108 
			 Total  5,362 
			 Grand Total  57,327 
			  Note: Headcount figures are quoted in full-time equivalents using the Office for National Statistics criteria for counting headcount and details the position at each month end.  Source: Information for parliamentary questions is usually obtained from the Jobcentre Plus management information portal. This does not contain the level of data requested and therefore data has been taken from an alternative source known as Dataview, extracted from resource management (RM). In a minority of cases it has not been possible to identify the region or district that an individual works in. This is due to the data not being available in RM.

Jobcentre Plus: Standards

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the performance of Jobcentre Plus in each  (a) region and  (b) Jobcentre Plus district against each of the indicators for its interventions delivery target (i) in each year since the target was launched and (ii) in each of the last 24 months.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what assessment he has made of the performance of Jobcentre Plus in each (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus district against each of the indicators for its interventions delivery target (i) in each year since the target was launched and (ii) in each of the last 24 months. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The Intervention Delivery Target (IDT) was introduced in April 2007. I am therefore able to provide in month district and regional performance for the last 19 months to October 2008. This is because Jobcentre Plus has a time delay of approximately 4 months in its recording of data for IDT.
	The target for 2008/09 is made up of the following three components, and measures whether we conduct a number of our main interviews within a given time:
	85% of initial Incapacity Benefit work-focused interviews are conducted between week 9 and week 13 of the claim;
	85% of Income Support lone parent work-focused interview reviews that become due are conducted within 3 months; and
	90% of 13, 26, 52, and 78 week Jobseeker's Allowance interviews (including New Deal initial interviews) that become due are conducted within 6 weeks.
	These three components make up the overall national target of 86%, with each component having an equal share of the target.
	The target for 2007/08 was made up of the following four components, and measured the timeliness of several of our key mandatory work-focussed interviews:
	80% of initial Incapacity Benefit work-focused interviews are conducted after the end of the 8th week and up to the end of the 13th week stage of the claim;
	85% of Income Support Lone Parent work focussed interviews that become due are conducted within 3 months;
	85% of 13 and 26-week Jobseeker's Allowance advisory interviews that become due are conducted within 6 weeks; and
	90% of Jobseeker's Allowance Labour Market Interventions and follow up activity are conducted.
	These four components were used to make up the overall national target of 85%. Performance for the Interventions Delivery Target is the mean average of the four components weighted equally.
	As the components of the target within these 2 years differed slightly we would not recommend making any direct comparisons of the data.
	The available data has been placed in the Library.

Members: Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter of 26 January from the hon. Member for Manchester Central regarding TW (ref: GREA01009/GAB); and what the reasons are for the time taken to respond.

Jonathan R Shaw: A reply to my hon. Friend's letter of 26 January regarding TW (ref: GREA01009/GAB) was given on 5 May 2009 and I apologise for the delay in doing so.

Social Security Benefits

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what explanatory and administrative provisions are in place to enable prospective eligible claimants to receive the 1,000 employer payment voucher available from Jobcentre Plus with effect from 6 April 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Jobcentre Plus staff have been made fully aware of the 1,000 recruitment subsidy through a series of internal communications. Supporting guidance about how to appropriately promote and administer the recruitment subsidy from 6 April 2009 was issued on 23 March 2009.
	Jobcentre Plus staff will promote the offer to eligible customers, as appropriate, and issue them with a voucher which they can use to approach employers seeking new employees. In addition, Jobcentre Plus is promoting the 1,000 offer to employers through an initial burst of media advertising across both print and online channels. This will take place from 6 April until 14 May and will feature in selected national press, trade publications and key business websites. All advertising will direct employers to go online to
	www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/1000
	to receive more information on the offer.
	In addition to this Jobcentre Plus have identified a list of key partner websites including Business Link, Train to Gain, and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, where messages to promote the offer will be held, alongside signposting back to the Jobcentre Plus site.
	All activity and take-up of the offer will be monitored and evaluated during May with a view to developing further plans to promote the offer if required.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with scientists working in the field of voice risk analysis technology on the accuracy of the technology being used by his Department to differentiate between high and low risk claims; and what use he has made of independent scientific evidence when evaluating the system;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the accuracy of voice risk analysis technology in recognising high-risk groups; and what estimate he has made of the level of risk of false positives arising from the use of voice risk analysis technology in relation to elderly callers;
	(3)  pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 11 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 19-20WS, on voice risk analysis, whether the technology being tested by his Department has been independently evaluated; what use has been made of control groups in which telephone advisers have not been using the technology in evaluating the results of the pilots; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department's evaluation of Voice Risk Analysis technology makes use of previously published research to help test the process and interpret the results.
	The Department has not entered into discussions with scientists outside of government at this stage.
	The Department has recently made available estimates of the accuracy of the process in recognising both high-risk and low-risk groups. I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 19-20WS.
	Analysis of the accuracy of the Voice Risk Analysis process amongst elderly callers has not been conducted as yet. Should the Voice Risk Analysis process demonstrate acceptable rates of accuracy in the general population, further work will be undertaken to assess accuracy with respect to differing demographic groups. The data from the phase two local authority trials will enable the Department to assess the risk of false positives in relation to elderly callers.
	The Department has not commissioned independent experts to evaluate Voice Risk Analysis. The Department's evaluation is being conducted by Government Statisticians who are required to offer independent advice to support the policy formulation.
	The Department's evaluation assesses the accuracy of the Voice Risk Analysis process by comparing the risk found in both 'low' and 'high' risk groups and not through control groups. If the technology is effective, the rate of incorrectness of benefits in the 'high' risk group should be substantially higher than that in the 'low' risk group. This assessment of the difference between the two groups is supported by a range of statistical tests. This is an accepted technique for assessing the accuracy of this type of technology that does not rely on a separate control group.

Unemployed: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unemployed people in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire Jobcentre Plus were assisted into employment in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of job seeker's allowance claimants who returned to work 
			   April 2004 to March 2005  April 2005 to March 2006  April 2006 to March 2007  April 2007 to March 2008  April 2008 to March 2009 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (JCP district) 23,055 21,065 19,910 20,185 21,610 
			 Hemel Hempstead (parliamentary constituency) 1,750 1,555 1,520 1,555 1,580 
			  Notes: 1. Number off-flows moving into employment include claimants who increased their employment hours beyond 16 per week. 2. This information is published on the Nomis website at www.nomisweb.co.uk. 3. The percentage of people leaving with an unknown destination recorded has increased over the last 10 years. This is because the completion levels of the JSA40 (forms filled in by people leaving Jobseeker's Allowance) have decreased over this period. This should be taken into account when interpreting these statistics, as many of these 'unknown' leavers will have moved into employment or other benefits.  Source: Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (computer held cases only)

Unemployment: Coastal Areas

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to address seasonal unemployment fluctuation in seaside towns; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Analysis carried out in response to the 2007 CLG Select Committee report on coastal towns showed that seasonal work accounted for less than 1 per cent. of total employment in coastal towns, ranging from a low of 0.4 per cent. of employment in winter to at most 1.7 per cent. in the summer months.
	The extent to which seasonal employment affects coastal towns varies across areas, reflecting their differing labour market characteristics. This underlines the need for local and regional interventions which are sensitive to local requirements and their interrelationships with the surrounding areas.
	Regional Development Agencies are supporting coastal towns through their regional economic strategies with a wider focus on the broader objectives of addressing employment, enterprise and skills in coastal areas.
	Where seasonal employment is a key driver of the local economy this needs to be considered as part of the wider regeneration and economic development of the local area and inform the regional economic strategy and local area agreement process.
	The Department for Work and Pensions, through Jobcentre Plus, provides a national system of help and support to those affected by unemployment, wherever they live. People are able to make use of the job matching service available through local Jobcentre Plus offices or the internet. Fast track access to more intensive support is available to individuals facing particular labour market disadvantages and tailored help is available through the New Deal and Pathways to Work programmes for those claiming other welfare benefits, such as lone parents or those with a health problem or disability.